LOWELL — University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan is calling for increased giving to the university system as it’s been beset by an attack from the federal government which has targeted research grants and aid to students.
“No one entity shapes the future of our state, transforms the lives of more people, or contributes more to social mobility than UMass,” President Meehan said. “But it’s no secret that these are trying times for all of higher education.”
“Since last February, a sustained campaign from the federal government to reshape higher education in the United States has threatened both the affordability of a college education and the federal research investments that have long been the backbone of both research universities and American innovation,” he said. “They have attempted to cut Pell grants to our students, placed limits on graduate student loans, and proposed reductions to federal work-study and opportunity programs. At the same time, federal policymakers have attempted to change how research is funded in ways that will disproportionately harm Massachusetts.”
Meehan made a call for more philanthropy to help the university system during these trying times in his ninth annual State of the University address, which he delivered last week. The annual address was recorded at the recently renamed Martin T. Meehan Student Center at UMass Lowell. The student center was dedicated last week to honor Meehan in recognition of his new charitable commitment as well as in appreciation of previous gifts raised during his tenure as UMass Lowell chancellor and president of the University of Massachusetts system.
Meehan, through his private charitable foundation, has committed more than $3.7 million to the university. Recently, he announced a new $1.5 million commitment to UMass Lowell to support student internships and career-connected experiences for students in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Meehan criticized the feds for reducing grant funding, saying that investment supports spinoff industries across Massachusetts, and adding that UMass Memorial Medical School, UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell and UMass Dartmouth have become engines for success.
“Research in Massachusetts has a huge impact, an economic impact, on the state.”
He said the recent federal cuts in research funding are daunting, but he thinks it’s a temporary problem.
“Research has always been a bipartisan issue,” supported equally by Republican and Democrats. “I hope we’ll get back on track.”
Meehan noted that Gov. Maura Healey has proposed the $400 million Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy Initiative to support research, jobs and innovation in Massachusetts. If passed by the Legislature, the state would pick up in part where where the federal government has withdrawn its support with $200 million for a multiyear research funding pool administered by MassDevelopment for hospitals, universities and independent research centers. It would give another $200 million to mitigate federal cuts to research and development, retain talent and fuel advancements in biotechnology, medicine and other fields.
“I believe that in the long run, we’ll get through it,” Meehan said. “America has always invested in research.”
He said UMass is also leaps and bounds ahead of where it was back when he was going to UMass Lowell, graduating in 1978.
“We’re raising more money as an institution than ever before,” he said, both from university alumni and others who just see it as a good investment in the future.
He pointed out the recent $50 million gift by former Apple executive and UMass Amherst alumnus Dan Riccio to the UMass College of Engineering, as well as other recent donations, as proof that people are willing to give, if they feel it’s money well spent.
History has shown that those types of investments in universities — and particularly in research — pay off, Meehan said.
“Lowell has had a huge economic benefit because UMass Lowell is there and we want that to continue.”
“And having Middlesex Community College downtown is also an important asset,” he said. “The college is a very positive (feature of Lowell) and a great opportunity for people who live there.”
UMass plays a significant role in that research economy with approximately $937 million annually in research expenditures, including $520 million in federal research funding to the state each year. UMass has the third-largest university research portfolio in Massachusetts and fourth largest in New England.
Mentioning the trials and tribulations of Lowell over the years, Meehan said, “Lowell is a city that pulls itself up by the bootstraps.” He noted that the city reached a high point with the introduction of Wang Laboratories in 1980s and ’90s, and saw a low point with its demise, but is continuing to experience a rebirth after the emergence of the Cross Point office complex at the former Wang towers, as well as greater and higher successes seen at UMass Lowell and elsewhere across the city.
“UMass creates all kinds of wonderful success stories and many of these folks give back in a big way,” he said.
He said he’s hoping even more alumni will give back to help compensate for the reduction in federal funds, as well as others in the community.
He cited the $300 million donated by investor Gerald Chan, which in part went into the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester but who also gave funds to UMass Lowell. “And he was not an alum, but he recognized the power of public higher education.”
With the increased giving over the years, Meehan said UMass has more than doubled its endowment, from $768 million in 2015 to $1.8 billion today, which has allowed it to expand its reach as a top university.
“It helps us attract top faculty, it helps us provide financial assistance to students,” he said, adding that about one-third of UMass students attend for free, and that the yearly tuition cost for others is kept low, at about $7,000 a year.
“Under President Meehan’s leadership, the UMass endowment has more than doubled, growing by more than $1 billion to a record-high $1.8 billion,” said UMass Board of Trustees Chair Stephen Karam. “That kind of growth happens by inspiring people to believe in UMass and believe in what public higher education can do for our students, communities and the commonwealth.”
Meehan noted that he’s putting his money where his mouth is, having donated $3.7 million to the UMass system through his private charitable foundation.
“I like to lead by example,” he said, adding, “It’s fine to talk the talk but you need to walk the walk.”
And while this call in part goes out to UMass alums who have done well or others who see the need to invest in the future, “Every gift to UMass makes me proud to recognize that people think UMass is a worthy investment, it doesn’t matter how big or how small the gift is.”
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