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24 n e w h a v e n B I Z | A u g u s t 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m A r t s & B u s i n e s s e ripple effect of David Geffen's $150M gi to Yale's drama school By Frank Rizzo C hantal Rodriguez, associate dean at the Yale School of Drama, describes the stunned and relieved look on the faces of students last month when it was announced that the largest gi in American theater history — $150 mil- lion from billionaire entertainment mogul David Geffen — would make tuition free in perpetuity at Yale's drama school. Make that the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, the name change prompted by the gi to the hallowed institution, which celebrates its 100-year founding in four years. "is changes the landscape with respect to what it means to be a student at the school financially going forward," says James Bundy, dean of the school. "We hope more people will now think the school is financially accessible to them, and that will change the composition of the applicant pool and therefore the school." Since the initial news broke, additional details of the deal have emerged. Some clarity: e Geffen gi doesn't to- tally fund every student's tuition but rather finishes off the various scholarships and types of financial aid that have already sup- ported many of the 200 students who now attend the three-year graduate program. Some students already attend tuition-free and since Bundy became dean of the school nearly 20 years ago, average student debt has been halved from $40,000 to $20,000 in 2019, says Rodriguez. Tuition is now $32,800 a year. "It's really important and meaningful," says Bundy, "that places like the Shubert Foundation and the Jerome L. Greene Foundation have given really consequential scholarship support over many years [to Yale drama school students], in the case of the over 70 endowed scholarships, and all of that will continue." Private deal Financial details of the gi between the Geffen Foundation and Yale are confidential. It is not publicly known, for in- stance, how much of the money will be going into an endow- ment that will generate annual funds, or how negotiations for the naming rights played out. Yale President Peter Salovey told e New York Times the gi came about aer years of conversations between the uni- versity and the Geffen Founda- tion. Salovey said the univer- sity had been aware of Geffen's interest in supporting higher education and the arts, and had looked for projects that might appeal to those interests. Salovey said he hopes future needs of the school — such as a new theater (its University e- ater is nearly a century old and its classrooms, rehearsal spaces and design sites in various con- ditions are scattered across the campus), will be addressed — but it would have to be financed through separate fundraising. Bundy indicated there were opportunities as a result of the gi to finance some of the students' need-based living expenses, too. e tuition-free status will also give Yale new leverage to attract students who might have been drawn to financial support offered at NYU, Juilliard, Columbia, Brook- lyn College, Brown and Carnegie Mellon. Geffen philanthropy Geffen is the founder of Geffen Records, Asylum Records and Geffen Pictures, and co-founder of DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffery Katzenberg. Forbes magazine estimates the 78-year- old's net worth at around $10 billion. Geffen made news last year with his purchase of a 454-foot, $570 million superyacht, where he spent the global pandemic. Over the years Geffen has emerged as a significant philanthropist, giving more than $700 million since 2002, some to institu- tions with his name attached, others not. ey include: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, and $100 million toward the $500 million-plus renovation fund for Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, which has been renamed Geffen Hall. Other examples of Geffen's high-spending philanthropy include the Los Angeles Coun- ty Museum of Art ($150 million), Museum of Modern Art ($100 million), AIDS Project Los Angeles, Gay Men's Health Crisis, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and arts education programs of Spelman and Morehouse Colleges. Naming rights e Yale School of Drama joins a handful of institutions now offering free graduate programs. One is just a few blocks away. Under Yale's previous president, Richard Levin, the Yale School of Music in 2005 received an anonymous $100 million gi ($134 million in today's dollars) to eliminate tuition there. It was later learned to be from billionaire couple Stephen and Denise Adams. No naming rights were sought. ough the free tuition news, for the most part, was welcomed by alumni, some questioned the name change to the school and have commented they would have preferred Geffen's name be attached to a building and not the school itself. Yale drama grad and theater critic Charles McNulty wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "is trading on an institution's cultural prestige, while common practice on cam- puses across the nation, marks something of a departure for Yale, which has bestowed the names of donors on buildings and institutes but has hitherto avoided rechristening its most illustrious professional schools aer benefactors." Bundy said he understands the name change took some people by surprise, "but this is nothing but good." He said he expects acceptance will come with time. "is will directly benefit early career artists and that's pretty rare and special," Bundy said. "[Tuition-free] does not only James Bundy is the dean of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. The recently renamed David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. David Geffen has made a $150 million gift to Yale's drama school that will help make the graduate program tuition-free. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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