San Francisco Frontiers - New Oxford academic centre symbolises UK's big-donor era

Completed last year, it was paid for by a £185-million ($250-million) gift from American private equity titan Stephen Schwarzman -- the latest in a string of primarily domestic and US mega-philanthropists donating to Britain's top universities this century.

This big-donor era, which emulates the more established philanthropy of the United States, has coincided with UK government cuts to higher education funding, prompting universities to hike student fees and boost gift-netting efforts.

It has also emerged as the super-rich give more, earlier in their lives, according to sector experts.

"Increasingly, we are seeing philanthropists giving from earned income... while they're still active in business," Karl Wilding, lecturer at Kent Business School's Centre for Philanthropy, told AFP.

"US philanthropists form a substantial proportion of this class of elite givers, reflecting the distribution of wealth globally," he added while noting such philanthropy was also growing in East Asia.

The trend has earned criticism.

Schwarzman's Blackstone firm, one of the world's biggest commercial landlords, has faced condemnation over some of its alleged practices.

Oxford faculty and students opposed the donation when it was announced in 2019, writing in an open letter the centre "will be built with the proceeds of the exploitation and disenfranchisement of vulnerable people".

"I can't say I'm thrilled about it," classics student Grace, 21, told AFP.

"But I definitely benefit from the building so... it's a tough one."

- 'Vision' -

The centre houses seven humanities faculties, two technology institutes and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.

Its concert hall, a separate 250-seat theatre and other spaces will host annual public cultural programmes, which launched in April.

Schwarzman, who received an honorary British knighthood in 2024 for his philanthropy, gazes down from a portrait hanging near the atrium -- built to the same specifications as Oxford's iconic 18th century Radcliffe Camera landmark building.

John Fulljames, the centre's cultural programme director, called the donation "transformative".

"It was part of the vision of the gift that the university should be opening up to artists, to the cultural sector," he told AFP.

Fulljames noted the business magnate -- a donor to his US alma mater, Yale, among others -- was "engaged" during years of construction.

"It's been wonderful to see him here taking care of an investment which is going to bear dividends across the next century."

Such gifts to UK universities increased by 93 percent in the decade to 2022, reaching a record £1.5 billion that year, according to a 2023 report by higher education association CASE.

But the distribution was uneven, with Oxford and Cambridge -- known as "Oxbridge" -- accounting for nearly half.

Underlining the imbalance, British billionaire hedge fund owner Chris Rokos in March announced a £190-million gift to Cambridge -- billed the largest in modern times to a UK university.

- 'Magnet' -

"The overall giving continues to go up, but it relies on a smaller number of bigger donors," Amir Pasic, dean of Indiana University's School of Philanthropy, told AFP.

"Higher education does tend to be a magnet for the very large gifts."

In the US, President Donald Trump is battling major universities, including cutting their funding, amid accusations faculties have a left-wing tilt and permit alleged antisemitism on campus.

Pasic said it was too soon to assess whether that was impacting philanthropy, while noting American donations to Oxbridge were a longstanding tradition -- though now with a modern tilt.

"There's interest in creating not your classical foundations that the Rockefellers and the Carnegies created," he said. "They're trying to use other vehicles also to pursue social impact."

Examples include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launching a scholarships programme in 2000 with a record $210 million University of Cambridge donation.

In 2012, Wales-born US venture capitalist Michael Moritz and his wife gave Oxford £75 million to establish scholarships for low-income students.

British investor and right-wing media mogul Paul Marshall's 2021 £50-million gift to the London School of Economics showed other top-tier institutions can also net big sums.

Meanwhile on Oxford's southern fringes another American and Trump ally, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has spent more than £1 billion building his for-profit technology institute, forming a "strategic alliance" with the city's acclaimed university.

Billed as "where science, education, and commercialisation reinforce one another," the alliance will see it invest at least £100 million in joint ventures "to tackle global challenges".

F.Edwards--SFF