2025-09-19T17:22:33-05:00 2024-12-31 WithumSmithBrown PC 1411 BROADWAY 9TH FLOOR NEW YORK NY 10018 990 2024-01-01 461439784 Foundation For Excellence in Higher Education % LUIS TELLEZ FOUN 6096888779 16 Stockton Street Princeton NJ 085406813 Luis E Tellez PRESIDENT 6096888779 2025-09-19 true true Israel Tannenbaum P01589203 2127519100 2024 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z Luis E Tellez 16 Stockton Street Princeton NJ 085406813 7387647 false X WWW.EXCELLENCEINHIGHERED.ORG X 2012 NJ FEHE Funds and advises programs at elite universities where the next generation of cultural leaders are formed. 9 8 0 8 0 0 7790410 7111468 0 0 108986 179361 0 0 7899396 7290829 9697402 9160574 0 0 0 0 0 0 210279 587400 664529 10284802 9825103 -2385406 -2534274 13285530 11723941 6619239 7454768 6666291 4269173 X ESTABLISHED IN 2012 AS AN INDEPENDENT, NON-PARTISAN, GRANT-MAKING ORGANIZATION, THE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION, INC ("FEHE") FUNDS AND ADVISES PROGRAMS AT ELITE UNIVERSITIES WHERE THE NEXT GENERATION OF CULTURAL LEADERS ARE FORMED. WE ADVANCE OUR MISSION OF ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL RENEWAL BY BUILDING INTERNAL UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS SUPPORTED BY EXTERNAL INSTITUTES, FORMING EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS IN CHARACTER AND VIRTUE THROUGH CLOSE MENTORSHIP AND INTELLECTUAL FRIENDSHIP, NETWORKING THESE STUDENTS WITH SELECT FACULTY, INDUSTRY LEADERS, AND WITH EACH OTHER, AND MULTIPLYING THEIR IMPACT ACROSS INDUSTRIES, GEOGRAPHIES, AND GENERATIONS. false false 9441513 9160574 In the 2023-24 academic year alone, our network sponsored 76 for-credit courses for almost 4,000 students, and hosted over 1,500 seminars, lectures, and conferences with over 26,000 attendees. FEHE currently supports twenty-seven institutes and programs at fourteen elite universities. These programs are forming exceptional students through intellectual friendship, connecting them with each other, and positioning them at key points of cultural influence in academia, law, politics, business, media, finance, and medicine. FEHE's impact on elite universities and the broader culture is significant and growing. In the past five years alone, our grantees have reached approximately 112,000 students and young scholars through 5,800 events and 272 for-credit courses. The growth of each of these metrics (students and attendees up 44 percent; events up 50 percent; for-credit courses up 43 percent) demonstrates FEHE's success in advancing its goals of forming students and supporting the next generation of scholars and leaders. 9441513 true true false false false false false false false false false false false false false true true false false false true true false false false false false true true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true 12 0 true 0 false false false false false false false false false false false false X 9 8 false true false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true false false false CA CT FL MD NJ NY PA WI X LUIS TELLEZ 6096888779 16 STOCKTON STREET PRINCETON NJ 08540 FRANCIS HAGER CHAIRMAN 1.0 0.0 X X 0 0 0 LUIS TELLEZ PRESIDENT 30.0 0.0 X X 0 0 0 DONALD READLINGER SECRETARY 1.0 0.0 X X 0 0 0 G DAVID BEDNAR TRUSTEE 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 ROBERT GEORGE TRUSTEE 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 MYLES HARRINGTON TRUSTEE - FROM 06/2024 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 STEVEN JUSTICE TRUSTEE 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 BOYD SMITH TRUSTEE 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 THOMAS TRKLA TRUSTEE 1.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 KELLY HANLON DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS 28.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 JOHN DOHERTY ASST. TREASURER & Dir. Finance 18.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 false false false The Witherspoon Institute Inc 16 Stockton Street PRINCETON NJ 08540 Administrative 450727 1 7111468 7111468 0 178732 178732 0 0 0 0 0 97447 96818 629 629 629 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7290829 179361 5547565 5547565 193509 193509 3419500 3419500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 450727 167452 121634 161641 0 27765 27215 550 0 0 6708 6708 16000 16000 3545 630 2915 12741 305 4552 7884 13022 240 12782 0 0 127985 87942 2754 37289 0 0 0 0 0 1511 1511 RESEARCH 9000 9000 TAX EXPENSE (REFUND) -4475 -4475 9825103 9441513 173311 210279 78410 36652 3104748 3683504 10102372 7993915 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9870 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13285530 11723941 1972 408 6617267 7454360 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6619239 7454768 X -4093748 -3766617 10760039 8035790 6666291 4269173 13285530 11723941 X -2534274 -181 137337 X false true X false false X 5881870 10002160 12579199 7790410 7111468 43365107 0 0 5881870 10002160 12579199 7790410 7111468 43365107 30093878 13271229 42273 28015 23593 108986 178732 381599 0 0 43746706 0.30336 0.27024 X Schedule A, Part II, Section C, Line 17a Facts and Circumstances test This statement is attached in accordance with the instructions for Schedule A, Form 990 regarding an organization that believes it is publicly supported according to applicable regulations. Treas. Reg. Sec 1.170A-9(F)(3) provides that an organization may be treated as "publicly supported" under the facts and circumstances test even if it fails to meet the 33 1/3 percent mechanical test. Under the facts and circumstances test, an organization will be treated as publicly supported if it normally received a substantial part of its support from the general public, or from a combination of these sources, and meets certain other requirements. The pertinent factors set forth in the regulations are discussed below: I,II) Attraction of public support FEHE maintains a continuous and bona fide program for solicitation of funds from the general public. The 10% test is satisfied by support from a number of unrelated donors. In its early existence, FEHE limited the scope of its solicitation to persons who would be most likely to provide seed money sufficient to enable it to begin its charitable activities and has since expanded its solicitation program. In 2018, FEHE launched a new website with the capacity to accept online donations. Primarily, however, in 2018 and 2019, FEHE hosted nine in-person fundraising events across the country in locations such as California, Texas, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona-to attract new donors. During this time, FEHE also created new promotional materials that were mailed to donors and prospects. FEHE's president and senior leadership also made approximately 200 visits to donors and prospective donors in the first two years of FEHE's test period. When the pandemic began in early 2020, FEHE shifted its solicitation program from mostly in person gatherings to virtual meetings and online solicitations. In 2020 and 2021, FEHE hosted or participated in approximately 250 meetings. In addition, FEHE continued its program of regular mailings to our house list of donors and prospective donors while embarking on a more robust electronic solicitation program. Online solicitations included email campaigns and listings on websites of allied non-profits, including universities. By the end of 2021, FEHE had sent more than 12,000 emails to its own list and through partnerships with sister organizations. Several of our grantees (public charities) also listed FEHE on their own websites and donation pages to ask their own donors to consider supporting FEHE directly. In 2022, FEHE brought together its in-person, mail, and electronic solicitation efforts. FEHE sponsored or participated in more than 130 in-person meetings and briefings. In addition, we sent emails to approximately 15,000 individuals and mailed hard copies of collateral materials to about 250 people. This solicitation program continued in 2023 and 2024. Also in 2024 FEHE's managing organization, The Witherspoon Institute, hired a full-time director of development. He spends about a third of his time planning and executing fundraising for FEHE. III) Sources of support: FEHE's activities appeal to a broad cross-section of persons nationwide who are interested in supporting the advancement of higher education. Currently, donations are solicited from the public on a continuous basis through its website and various outreach programs. IV) Representative Governing Body FEHE's governing body includes nine individuals, all independent from one another and representing the broad interests of the public. Representing multiple disciplines, FEHE brings together a team of thought leaders and doers with unique perspectives and expertise to develop the tools to advance higher education. Trustees are chosen for their interest in enhancing American higher education as an important part of improving American society generally. They specifically appreciate the importance of helping students and professors explore universal questions about truth that cross disciplines. Some of them are even members of academia. Most have been collaborators in the work of FEHE's grantees before joining the board of FEHE. The current trustees are as follows: Francis Hager, Chairman. Mr. Hager is a Managing Partner of OppCAP Group LLC. Previously he was a Partner at Stone Tower Capital and before that co-head of the Credit Suisse "cash" CLO/CDO group. He began his career in corporate finance at Citibank before moving to Morgan Stanley. He has served on boards of several non-profits and is currently a member of the IESE (Barcelona) Business School U.S. Advisory Council, the board of the Collegium Institute and the advisory council of the Penn Initiative for the Study of Markets (both at the University of Pennsylvania). Mr. Hager holds a BS summa cum laude in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MPhil in economics from Oriel College, University of Oxford. Luis E. Tellez. President. Mr. Tellez is the President of the Witherspoon Institute, a public charity that, among other things, provides academic programming for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to examine the moral foundations of political, philosophical, and social thought. He spent the early part of his career working in the chemical industry, and subsequently spent over twenty years administering several non-profit corporations before helping to found Witherspoon. Donald Readlinger. Secretary. Mr. Readlinger is a partner in the law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP. He has practiced law since 1999, focusing on corporate and transactional matters, and has represented several nonprofit corporations and charitable organizations throughout his career. He routinely advises boards of directors of public and private corporations. Prior to commencing his legal career, Mr. Readlinger held various positions in investment banking and insurance, and with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the Morningside Institute (New York, N.Y.) and is a trustee of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life at Princeton University. Mr. Readlinger received a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law. He lives in Princeton with his wife and three children. David Bednar. David Bednar is the Principal of Devotio Capital Management. He is a twenty-four-year veteran of global real estate lending and investing, spanning the capital structure from equity to first mortgage lending. Mr. Bednar received a BA and MBA from Harvard University and served for four years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. Robert P. George. Dr. George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence in the Department of Politics and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is also the Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute. Myles Harrington. Mr. Harrington is President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group, a govtech company that supplies software-as-a-service to state and local government agencies, who use it to bill, collect and distribute taxes, fees, and fines. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University. For the first fifteen years of his professional career, he was an investment banker at both Wall Street and regional firms. Steven V. Justice. Dr. Justice is Professor emeritus of English at UC Berkeley, where he taught topics in medieval literary history and literary criticism. He is also a Senior Fellow and former President of the Berkeley Institute. Justice has been a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, Council of the Humanities Fellow at Princeton University, and Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, and has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Huntington Library, and the University of California. Boyd C. Smith. Mr. Smith is a private investor in commercial real estate and high-tech start-up companies. He and his two business partners founded the California Family Foundation, which funds Beechwood School, an independent K-8 school that serves low-income and minority students. Boyd and his wife, Jill, also founded the Golden Gate Family Foundation, which runs a scholarship and mentoring program for youth who are first generation college bound. He is currently a board member of the Hoover Institution Board of Overseers at Stanford University and the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children's Health. He received a BS in Economics from the University of Utah, and an MBA from Stanford University. Boyd resides in Palo Alto, California. Thomas Trkla. Mr. Trkla is the founding member and majority owner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brookwood Financial Partners, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yesway. Mr. Trkla is a graduate of Princeton University, received a Master of Management degree from RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 0 X 7222192 -181 -181 7222373 6708 61748 68456 7290829 9619310 9619310 6708 199085 205793 9825103 Part X, line 2 The Foundation is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code and exempt from state income taxes under state law and no provision for such income tax has been reflected in the financial statements. The Foundation has evaluated uncertain tax positions with respect to its operations and concluded there are no such positions at December 31, 2024 and 2023. The Foundation did not recognize any tax-related interest or penalties during the periods presented in these financial statements. Part XI Line 4b Discount on promises to give receivable (61,746) Part XII Line 4b discount on promises to give payable (199,085) true Europe (Including Iceland and Greenland) 0 0 Grantmaking 3419500 0 0 0 0 3419500 3419500 Europe (Including Iceland and Greenland) Scholarship, general 3419500 CHECK 1 false false false false false false Schedule F, Part I, Line 2 FEHE requires at least two reports from its foreign grantee each year. FEHE's disbursements of funds for the grantee's general operations are made contingent on the grantee's submitting reports. In addition, the grantee's executive director and or other staff normally attends FEHE's annual conference in Princeton, New Jersey, to discuss the grantee's operations and activities with FEHE's staff and trustees, and with the executive directors of all FEHE's domestic grantees. FEHE's management is also continually in contact with the grantee's staff, and FEHE's President sits on the board of trustees of the grantee. true The Trustees of Columbia University 615 WEST 131ST STREET MC 8741 NEW YORK NY 100277922 135598093 501c3 1250000 General operations The Morningside Institute 490 RIVERSIDE DRIVE FLOOR 11 new york NY 10027 821094056 501c3 622215 General operations The Abigail Adams Institute 14 arrow street G10 Cambridge MA 02138 471495965 501c3 490000 General operations Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 3451 Walnut Street Room 305 Philadelphia PA 19104 231352685 501c3 420000 General operations Collegium Institute 228 S 40th St Philadelphia PA 19104 463047945 501c3 377000 General operations Austin Institute FSOFC 3206 Fairfax walk Austin TX 78705 462082757 501c3 325000 General operations The Berkeley Institute 2134 ALLSTON WAY BERKELEY CA 94704 463482813 501c3 322722 General operations ELM INSTITUTE 31 WHITNEY AVE STE 1 NEW HAVEN CT 06510 471625610 501c3 332424 General operations Harvard University 124 mount auburn street cambridge MA 02138 042103580 501c3 300000 General operations Hyde Park Institute 1407 E 60TH STREET Chicago IL 60637 475549775 501c3 250000 General operations The Witherspoon Institute 16 Stockton Street Princeton NJ 08540 550835528 501c3 208000 General Operations Forbes Avenue Foundation PO Box 7126 337 bouquet st pittsburgh PA 15213 824121313 501c3 200000 General operations Zephyr Institute 560 COLLEGE AVENUE Palo Alto CA 94306 471979289 501c3 184573 General operations The Houston Institute 2101 Dryden Rd Houston TX 77030 474634060 501c3 125000 General operations University of Illinois Foundation 303 St Marys Road Champaign IL 61820 376006007 501c3 75000 General operations Duke University 324 Blackwell Street Durham NC 27701 560532129 501c3 40631 General operations Hippocratic Society 25 Ware St Cambridge MA 02138 931411468 501c3 25000 General operations 17 Fellowships 5 193509 Schedule I, Part I, Line 2 Most of FEHE's grants are awarded to a fixed group of about two dozen programs for their general operations. These receive grants annually in two disbursements. Before each disbursement is made, the grantees are required to submit reports to FEHE on their activities and expenses during the preceding six months. In addition, all executive directors of these grantees, including some of their supporting staff, normally attend an annual conference to discuss their experiences in the previous year and their objectives for the future. FEHE's management are also in continual contact with these same executive directors throughout the year to advise them on their fundraising and operations. Finally, either the Chairman, President, or the Director of Operations of FEHE sits on the boards of advisory councils of about 60 percent of these grantees and regularly attends their meetings. FEHE also awards grants to support postdoctoral fellowships at about a dozen universities in the United States and Great Britain. The departments or institutes that host these fellowships are required to submit reports to FEHE on the activities and expenses of the fellow at the end of each year of the fellowship. In addition, FEHE's management are in continual contact with the scholars who oversee the fellows' work; these scholars are also affiliated with one of the programs or institute mentioned above whose general operations FEHE supports. FEHE also sponsors the Barry Center at the Morningside Institute, whose staff are in continual contact with the postdoctoral fellows themselves to advise them on their work; FEHE's management are in continual contact with the Barry Center's staff. Occasionally FEHE will make one-time grants to certain grantees whose missions are partially aligned with FEHE's. FEHE will also require these organizations to submit reports on their activities. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION A, Line 3: FEHE has engaged the Witherspoon Institute to perform management duties for FEHE during the year. These management duties include the following activities: hosting and preparing reports for board meetings, cultivating donors, financial account management, grant administration, and managing the general day to day operations of FEHE. The following personnel are employees of the Witherspoon Institute and serve as director and/or officers of FEHE. Their compensation from the Witherspoon Institute is as follows for their services to FEHE. Luis Tellez; Reportable Comp $45,000, Retirement $1,800, Health Ins $1,875 Kelly Hanlon; Reportable Comp $133,707, Retirement $4,392, Health Ins $15,162 John Doherty; Reportable Comp $16,130, Retirement $645, Health Ins $1,474 FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 11B: FEHE's FEDERAL FORM 990 WAS PROVIDED TO EACH VOTING MEMBER OF ITS GOVERNING BODY, ITS BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRIOR TO FILING WITH THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, QUESTION 12: FEHE HAS A WRITTEN CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY. ANNUALLY, ALL OFFICERS OF THIS ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ARE REQUIRED TO REVIEW THE EXISTING CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY AND DISCLOSE ANY APPLICABLE CONFLICTS. CONFLICTS ARE REVIEWED BY THE ORGANIZATION'S BOARD OF TRUSTEES. ANY INDIVIDUAL WITH A CONFLICT OF INTEREST RECUSES THEMSELF FROM THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS. DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS ARE REVIEWED FOR FULL COMPLIANCE WITH FEHE's POLICIES. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, QUESTION 15: FEHE officers are paid through the witherspoon institute, an unrelated not for profit organization. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION C, LINE 19: GOVERNING DOCUMENTS, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, SUCH AS THE CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST POLICY ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. FORM 990, PART XI, LINE 9 Other changes in net assets consist of the following: discount on promises to give receivable - (61,748), discount on promises to give payable - 199,085