The WSA Endowment is the first endowment in the nation to be funded and managed by a student government organization. It was created in 2008 with the aim of lowering the Student Activities Fee (SAF) that is levied on all Wesleyan students each year. The hope is that some day, once the endowment has become large enough, its draw will be able to reduce the SAF or even eliminate it while still allowing for a large student activities budget. At the end of every year, unspent funds from the student activities budget are funneled into the WSA Endowment. These funds, along with returns made on investments, are the main sources of growth for the endowment.
The launch of the WSA Endowment was a great success by anyone’s standards. From its inception in October 2008 through August 2009—a catastrophic period of time for financial markets across the globe—the WSA Endowment outperformed the S&P 500 by 25.5%. Currently, the WSA Endowment contains over $300,000 and its portfolio includes investments in bond funds, equity funds (including a socially responsible fund and a green fund), share certificates at a local credit union, and many other invesments made through a partial attachment to the Wesleyan Endowment. Investment decisions are made in consultation with administrators in Wesleyan’s Finance and Investment offices, but are ultimately approved by majority vote of the WSA.
The WSA Endowment Committee (WEC), composed of the President, Vice President, and the chairs of the Student Budget Committee (SBC) and Sustainability, Finance, and Facilities Committee (SuFFaC), manages the WSA endowment. Questions about the portfolio of the WSA endowment and its recent performance should be directed to the chair of the WEC and SBC, wsasbc@wesleyan.edu.
Read more about the WSA endowment in this New York Times article.