Chinese graduates lag in donations to US colleges

This month, Harvard University's School of Public Health received a $350 million donation - the single largest donation by an individual to Harvard - from the family of Gerald Chan, a Harvard-educated entrepreneur from Hong Kong.

Chinese property power couple Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xinxin, founders of Soho China, announced in July they were giving $15 million to Harvard.

In 2010, Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital Group pledged $8,888,888 to the Yale School of Business, where he graduated from. The money was primarily earmarked for building a new campus.

As the Yale Daily News reported, Zhang said he hoped his gift would serve to strengthen ties between the university and China.

But Wang pointed out that most Chinese donations to top American universities are basically aimed at putting donors' names on campus buildings in perpetuity. "They need to make their donations more strategic and useful for promoting a better understanding of China and its people," he said.

"They put their names on hardware, meaning buildings, to achieve immortality," he said. "But very little has been given to the software, like supporting scholarships in science, social science and humanities."

If China's wealthy are interested in changing American's misunderstanding of China and helping put an end to China-bashing, they need to aim their gifts at correcting prejudice and ignorance, and increasing understanding of China's culture and people. That means they should contribute more to scholarships and curriculum changes in Chinese studies at American schools and universities, Wang said.

A record of philanthropy worth emulating, he added, belongs to that of Jewish donors. "Through persistent donations to Jewish studies and scholarship awards at major universities in the US, the American public has gradually gained a better understanding of Jewish people in America and throughout the world," Wang said.

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