University President Lee Bollinger confirmed that Columbia will announce a $400 million gift from the estate of John Kluge in an interview tonight.
The gift will go towards improving the University's financial aid offerings. The donation is the largest ever made to Columbia, which is double the amount given to the University by the estate of Jerome L. Greene for a Mind, Brain, and Behavior Center last year.
"John deserves the eternal gratitude of Columbia," Bollinger said, calling the donation "a colossal step forward."
The donation will be bequeathed upon the 92-year-old media mogul's death. It is divided into two portions-$200 million will be allocated to Columbia College while the other half will be distributed across the rest of the institution.
Bollinger said that he was "reasonably confident" that a "reasonable portion" of the funds will be allocated to international student aid. He said that the announcement comes before many of the details as to how the gift will be spent have been settled.
"Part of his thinking here is, 'I want to make this pledge now, and I want it to be known even though there are some things that will remain up for conversation in the future,'" Bollinger said.
The president said that the donation will not solve the financial aid problems that Columbia faces. "Our hope is that this will stimulate others to do the same, and that's John's intention."
The donation will officially be announced tomorrow in Low Library at 11:45 a.m.
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