Breakfasts and Budgets

In case you missed last Monday's budget town hall and are worried the Princeton is going to follow Harvard's example and cut hot breakfasts, you can rest assured, your omelets remain safe.

At the town hall, Provost Christopher Eisgruber '83 noted that Harvard is the only school that draws a greater share of its operating costs from its endowment. In that case, The Boston Globe's story yesterday may explain in part why Harvard had to cut its hot breakfasts as well as fire 275 members of staff, halt a planned expansion and borrow $1.5 billion with a bond offering. According to the Globe, Harvard invested some of the funds it uses to pay yearly operating costs along with its endowment and lost $1.8 billion when the economy soured. Harvard's total operating expenses for the 2008-09 fiscal year were $3.8 billion.