While there are a number of things to correct in yesterday’s story regarding the university’s endowment performance, I will focus on the most important point, which was not reflected.

Like almost every college and university in the nation, SU’s endowment investments were profoundly affected by the global economic crisis.

For the time period covered in the story (2008-09), the portion of the university’s endowment decline actually related to investment performance equaled -24.5 percent. This is generally in the range of the average loss (-20.5 percent) for institutions with endowments more than $1 billion during this time period. Also during this time, the S&P Index returned -26.2 percent, and the international equity index returned -31.2 percent.

The university’s endowment declined an additional 8.6 percent (to a total of -33.1 percent) as a result of cash flow and most significantly a distribution policy change made during 2008-09, which resulted in distributions for two fiscal years coming from the endowment that year. This change resulted in a one-time anomaly that affected performance for that year.

The university continues to manage its endowment with the goal of preserving the real value of the endowment, while providing a stable level of support for the university’s academic mission now and in the future. Since June 30, 2009, the university’s endowment has grown by about 9.1 percent, and it is currently valued at approximately $720 million.

Kevin Quinn senior vice president for public affairs