To the Editor:

I agree with Jenny Lee’s suggestion that Yale’s “socially irresponsible” acceptance of the recent School of Music donation represents a disconnect between the University and the rest of the world (10/31). It’s this same kind of disconnect that allows me to attend an institution like Yale without being consumed by guilt every minute of the day. The average Yalie on financial aid receives a scholarship of about $20,000 per year. During that same year, it costs about $50 to feed and shelter a Sudanese refugee. If I valued human life in the least, I’d refuse my financial aid package because to do otherwise would put 400 Sudanese out in the cold. (I’d also forgo the $20 Korean dinner my parents treated me to because, gosh, that same $20 would buy a year’s supply of iodized salt for dozens of Indian children.) Fortunately, I’m a cold-hearted white male who recognizes how absurd it is to criticize others for spending money on me.

Jacob First ’07

Nov. 11, 2005