How Can You "Give Back" Something that Wasn't First Taken?

Commentary from Mark J. Perry on FEE.org:

At the University of Michigan-Flint, where I teach, there is a “Giving Back” campaign that encourages alumni to “give back to campus through volunteering” (see graphic above). Here’s a recent news article about that campaign titled “Giving Back: UM-Flint alumni discover the rewards of volunteering.”

Below is my response to the Alumni Relations Office about its “Giving Back” campaign, explaining why I think the concept of “giving back” is fundamentally flawed and objectionable, basically because it falsely implies that there was some kind of “taking first.”

Through UM-Flint’s “Giving Back” campaign, our alumni are being encouraged to “give back to our campus” through volunteering and philanthropy. But to me (and others who share my opinion on this), the whole premise of asking our alumni to “give back” is a fundamentally flawed concept. Reason? The underlying premise of encouraging anybody – successful business people or UM alumni – to “give back” is objectionable to some of us because it implies that those alumni have previously “taken something” from our campus or from society that now needs to be returned or given back – like stolen property!

An obvious question is what, exactly, have our alumni taken from our campus that they now need to “give back”? Yes, many of our alumni like Kim Knag have had successful careers for decades working at Michigan companies like DTE Energy. But that business success is the reward that alumni like Kim have rightfully earned for investing in their UM-Flint education and devoting their time and talent to create products and services that others in society value. Kim Knag and other UM alumni haven’t taken anything from our campus or from society or from their local communities, but rather they have enriched and already “given to” many others in Michigan through their UM-Flint education, and their subsequent work and careers.

Therefore, it’s a concern that the “Give Back to Campus” campaign serves to minimize the value of the services to society that our alumni provide or have provided during their careers. Thousands of our distinguished alumni have provided immeasurable amounts and hours of services to their local communities through the “dedication, expertise, and enthusiasm” that they brought to their successful careers. Through their jobs, they “gave” of themselves and gave their effort, time and expertise to society throughout the majority of their adult working lives.

If UM alumni are to be encouraged to engage in volunteerism and philanthropy, they should be encouraged to do so freely because those are noble and honorable activities that create value for society, themselves and our campus. But alumni shouldn’t feel pressured by their alma mater that there is any obligation being imposed on them to “give back to their campus” with the underlying implication that some payback is necessary because they must have taken something during years at UM-Flint that needs to now be returned! And the service that they have provided for many decades to their local communities through their jobs and careers, hopefully as a direct result of their UM-Flint education, should not be minimized or dismissed as somehow inferior to the value of the volunteerism or philanthropy they choose to provide later in life!

I’ll agree that it’s a somewhat subtle and easily overlooked point, but I think you would have to agree that the very term “giving back” automatically and necessarily assumes that something was taken by alumni, perhaps unfairly, that must be returned or given back at a later time in some act of payback or reparations!

Here are some suggestions for how the campaign could be modified slightly to remove the “giving back something that was unfairly taken” theme and implication:

1. “If you are a UM-Flint alumnus looking for a chance to give back and contribute to our campus through volunteering, visit our alumni volunteer page to learn more about upcoming volunteer opportunities.”

or

2. “If you are a UM-Flint alumnus looking for a chance to give back make a difference on our campus through volunteering, visit our alumni volunteer page to learn more about upcoming volunteer opportunities.”

3. “But there’s something that sets University of Michigan-Flint graduates apart from the rest: their commitment to giving back to making a difference / to contributing their time.”

4.  “Giving Back: Making a Difference: UM-Flint alumni discover the rewards of volunteering.”

Thanks for indulging me in my lifetime mission to combat the misguided concept (in my opinion) of “giving back something that was unfairly taken” whenever I get a chance!  

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Being pressured to give back is all about socialism or collectivism. Individual choice doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all about what the group wants or needs—whatever that means. This giving back fad would make Ayn Rand spin her grave.