Dartmouth College has instituted a hiring freeze for outside candidates, committed to reducing expenses and delayed some construction projects following news that it its endowment lost $220 million.
College President James Wright says the college will need to adjust projected expenses by up to 10 percent, or about $40 million, over the next two fiscal years.
Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees announced the endowment loss after their meeting last week. The board blamed the loss on poor returns on stocks and bonds because of the Wall Street meltdown.
Wright said the board agreed that financial aid and the college’s academic strengths – of which the core is the tenure-track faculty and the overall educational environment – need to be protected. It added that the college will need to do all it can to support Dartmouth staff.