I think the headline for this post speaks for itself:
- The Broad Foundation gave $44 million to Harvard for the creation of a new education research school, according to the WSJ.
- Portfolio.com recounts an event where Muhammad Yunis explains the difference between micro-lending and sub-prime lending. “It’s extreme greed. You misled people into getting involved. It’s irresponsible capitalism,” said the Nobel Prize winner.
- Prince Charles will become a patron of the Jewish Museum in London, making it his first Jewish cause.
- Germany has increased its financial support of the Jewish community there, boosting its annual gift to the Central Council of Jews in Germany by about $2.9 million this year.
- The Ellis Island Museum will get a $20 million expansion. Fund raising is about 75 percent complete and includes a $1 million gift from the Annenberg Foundation, according to the New York Times. But the president and CEO of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Stephen A. Briganti, is concerned about raising the rest.
- Gold medalist Michael Phelps returned home to Baltimore to pick up a $250,000 check for his foundation from Kellog’s, says the AP.
- I hope this is not a trend: A charity ball in Sussex, England, was called off because organizers could not sell enough tickets due to the economic downturn, reports BBC.
- Twelve athletes, including several former NFL players, will donate their brains to Boston University Medical School after their deaths, for a study on the effect of concussions. Is there any irony in athletes donating their brains? That would be like journalists donating money.
- Move is afoot in Ft. Lauderdale to start a foundation to help deal with housing foreclosures.
And now from the Jewish media:
- New York Jewish organizational officials are calling the current economic situation a real crisis, as the UJA-Federation of New York allocated $400,000 to help the situation and another former official calls for a national summit to deal with the non-profit crunch.
- The Wall Street crisis is forcing shuls, which count among their congregants large numbers of bankers, to deal with the issue, according to the Forward.
- The Baltimore Hebrew University, which has been wracked with financial woes, will be taken over by Towson State University, according to the Baltimore Jewish Times.
- Milwaukee may become the first Jewish community to adopt a new way of engaging young Jewish families, says the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.
- Brandeis University is offering an MBA program in Green business management, reports the Boston Jewish Advocate.
- Jewish food banks in Seattle are in trouble, according to the JTNews of Washington.
- The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania tapped Jill M. Michal as its new president and chief executive officer, reports the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
- Jewish leaders in San Francisco are fighting legislation that would ban gay marriage, according to j.
- Natalie Portman, Colin Farrell and others showed up for a Heeb Storytelling event in L.A. that turned a little naughty, reports the LA Jewish Journal. And in more traditional news, the Westside Jewish Community Center is building a $4 million aquatic center.
