Log in to hire José A.

José A. Alvarado Jr.

Photographer
 
Media
for The New York Times: For Columbia and a Powerful Donor, Months of Talks and Millions at Risk
josé a. alvarado jr.
Jul 9, 2024
Location: New York, New York
Summary
Columbia University has faced enormous public pressure over protests. But emails and interviews also show some of the private demands on the Ivy League school.
On Jan. 19, Angelica Berrie sent an email to Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University. Ms. Berrie reported that the Russell Berrie Foundation, named for her late husband, had scheduled three grant payments to Columbia.

But after months of campus protests around the Israel-Hamas war, Ms. Berrie also delivered a warning.

As the foundation prepared to transfer almost $613,000, Ms. Berrie told Dr. Shafik that future giving would partly hinge on “evidence that you and leaders across the university are taking appropriate steps to create a tolerant and secure environment for Jewish members of the Columbia community.”

Months passed, and the foundation, which has donated about $86 million to Columbia over the years, did not like what it saw. Frustrated and flummoxed by the sustained tumult at Columbia, the foundation suspended its giving to the university late last month.

Columbia has spent months under siege, bombarded by public demands from protesters, faculty members, alumni, members of Congress and religious groups since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that precipitated the war. But the foundation’s admonition, included in correspondence that it shared with The New York Times, illustrates the pressures that Columbia administrators have also had to confront in private with donors, with longstanding relationships and enormous sums at stake.

The Berrie Foundation’s pause threatens to cost Columbia tens of millions of dollars over the coming years. And it represents a sobering turnabout for a foundation so prolific at Columbia that it underwrote both the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion and the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center.

Photographed for The New York Times, with words by Alan Blinder
For Columbia and a Powerful Donor, Months of Talks and Millions at Risk
Columbia University has faced enormous public pressure over protests. But emails and interviews also show some of the private demands on the Ivy League school.
Nytimes.com
725

Also by José A. Alvarado Jr. —

Media

for The New York Times: Home Sales in Flood Zones Are Booming. Here’s Why Buyers Take the Risk.

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The Wall Street Journal: The King of Risky Hometown Bonds Is Back

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The Wall Street Journal: The Office Therapist Will See You Now

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Connecticut
News

for DVEIGHT: A Conversation with Ray Turner

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Catskill Mountains, New York
News

for The New York Times: The U.S. Open Is Busier Than Ever. Some Fans Are Not Happy About It.

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The New York Times: The View From the Nosebleeds at the U.S. Open: Not Too Shabby

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for STAT: A new drug offers a rare option for brain cancer treatment — and inspires hopes for more

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New Jersey
News

for The New York Times: Elephants Arrive, So Humans Don’t Forget

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for Bloomberg: Governor Kathy Hochul

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The New York Times: How Creators Are Facing Hateful Comments Head-On

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for NYC Tourism: Watching Copa America with Fans at La Roja de Todos

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Queens, New York
News

for Huff Post: How America’s Mental Health Crisis Became This Family’s Worst Nightmare

José A. Alvarado Jr. / High Falls, New York
Media

for The Denver Post: How one Colorado overdose victim fell through the cracks

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Long Island, New York
News

for Business Insider: I went to a food festival where Latina chefs shared their culinary journeys — and fed my Boricua soul

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New Jersey
News

for Cultured Magazine: Cult 100

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for STAT: How a scientific slip-up caused a pregnant woman to get an untested treatment for preterm birth

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Long Island, New York
News

for The New York Times: Former Rikers Employees Are Charged With Smuggling in Contraband

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York City
News

for Seven Days VT: 'Safe Haven'

José A. Alvarado Jr. / East Harlem, New York City
News

for The New York Times: Lawmaker Is Left With ‘Lifetime Trauma’ as Attacker Pleads Guilty

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Connecticut
News

for The New York Times: Health Insurers’ Lucrative, Little-Known Alliance: 5 Takeaways

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The New York Times: Baruch College, an Upward-Mobility Machine

José A. Alvarado Jr. / New York, New York
News

for The New Yorker: The Haunted Juror

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Long Island, New York
News

for Bloomberg Originals:

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Guayana
News

for Bloomberg: Guyana Is Trying to Keep Its Oil Blessing From Becoming a Curse

José A. Alvarado Jr. / Georgetown, Guayana
for The New York Times: For Columbia and a Powerful Donor, Months of Talks and Millions at Risk by José A. Alvarado Jr.
Sign-up for
For more access