As it's my reunion year, I've taken special interest in the annual Reunion Campaigns that each returning class year holds. Looking at which classes have met or exceeded their fund-raising targets, a striking generational trend becomes evident:
The Baby Boomers -- those alums who came of age between 1965 and 1980 -- clearly fall far short of their fundraising expectations relative to the 'Greatest Generation' or the Gen Xers or even my own cohort of Millenials.
Sociologists or demographers could probably explain this trend better than I can, but there's clearly something about the Boomer generation that makes them less generous than their counterparts. I don't think the Great Recession can have much to do with it, because our economic morass probably affects younger generations the most and giving expectations have been dialed down across the board. I'm also not certain if this is a trend specific to Cornell, but there were certainly events occurring on campus during the late-60s and 70s that might hinder giving levels.
But hey, I already joined the Ivy Society. Have you?
