JULLIARD SCHOOL CUTS PROGRAM FOR MINORITY SCHOOL CHILDREN…WAIT A MINUTE ?

Reported today in the NYTimes:

The Juilliard School’s music-training program for poor minority schoolchildren — a rigorous curriculum that the conservatory holds up as a national model — has been slashed, disappointing dozens of children preparing to audition….

Mr. Polisi said that the school could not raise the $400,000 necessary to finance the whole program, and that across-the-board budget cuts meant there was no money elsewhere for it. “I was the guy who started it 20 years ago, and I believe deeply in it,” Mr. Polisi said. “It’s an extremely important part of me and Juilliard.” But the likelihood of raising enough money was “exceedingly low,” he said. Mr. Polisi said he hoped to raise money to restart the program, on a smaller scale, in two years.

What happened to the $10 million endowment gift of Irene Diamond for minority student programs, as reported in the NYTimes in 1992?

Mr. Polisi said the school would establish the Irene Diamond Fund, an endowment that should yield between $500,000 and $1 million a year for scholarships and faculty salary support. He said that black, Hispanic and American Indian students and faculty would be primary candidates for the support, but that some of the money would be used for other scholarship programs as well.