The House Ways and Means Committee proposed taxing university endowments at up to 22%. Diermeier was in Washington every other week arguing that taxing endowments means taxing philanthropic intent. The final rate landed at 8%.
Where this was said
At 8:27 · chapter starts 8:25
This chapter is the most policy-dense section of the interview. Diermeier describes spending considerable time in Washington — alone and alongside other university presidents — fighting a House Ways and Means Committee proposal for a 22% endowment tax [1] — Daniel Diermeier "Endowment tax: 22% proposed, 8% enacted: The House Ways and Means Committee proposed a 22% endowment tax; after lobbying by university pres…" 08:41 . His argument: endowments are accumulated philanthropy, so taxing them means taxing philanthropic intent, with direct consequences for financial aid and research. The lobbying succeeded in reducing bands from four to two and capping the rate at 8% [1] — Daniel Diermeier "Endowment tax: 22% proposed, 8% enacted: The House Ways and Means Committee proposed a 22% endowment tax; after lobbying by university pres…" 08:41 . Diermeier then pivots to NIH: despite fears, appropriations actually increased by about $300 million [2] — Daniel Diermeier "NIH funding: +$300M in appropriations: Despite fears of cuts, final Congressional appropriations actually increased NIH funding by about $3…" 10:26 , reflecting genuine bipartisan support for research. But the operational problem is speed — personnel shortages at NIH are creating approval bottlenecks that Vanderbilt can bridge in the short term, but that will cause material damage if they persist. He notes Vanderbilt has made no layoffs, which distinguishes it from many peers facing severe financial strain.
The House Ways and Means Committee proposed a 22% endowment tax; after lobbying by university presidents, the highest rate was reduced to 8%.
Despite fears of cuts, final Congressional appropriations actually increased NIH funding by about $300 million, reflecting bipartisan support for research.
Vanderbilt has not conducted any layoffs while many peer universities have laid off large numbers of staff due to funding cuts and financial strain.
A baseball-playing junior who learned about compound interest now wants to quit the sport to start working and investing. George says let him decide and own it. Jade says team sports build something a job can't replace — try doing both during off-season first before making the call permanent.
May is 33, carries $69K in combined household debt, and wants to spend 11–13 years training to become a forensic pathologist at $14K/year in tuition. The prerequisite is non-negotiable: zero debt before a single class. Then, with the spouse earning $4,500/month and able to run the household debt-free, cash-flowing medical school is genuinely possible.
Kavak launched the Jedi Academy, an internal program where every employee — from CEO to mechanics — completes a 6-week training and ships a production-ready AI agent. The message to staff was blunt: train and adapt, or this may not be the right place for you.
The worst AI outcome for young people isn't cheating on homework. It's that passive, mindless consumption strips away the motivation and agency their brains need to develop. The second worst outcome is banning AI from classrooms entirely. The winning path is giving students AI-powered agency.
Prompting AI effectively is a skill that should be taught in K-12. The best prompter in history? Socrates. His method of relentlessly asking precise questions to uncover truth is exactly what powerful AI interaction looks like — and schools should explicitly teach it.
When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, Fei-Fei Li's first move was to email her child's elementary school principal and offer to lecture teachers and students. No investor or tech company did that. Teachers are scared, forgotten, and lectured at — and if they're not helped, neither are the kids.
After the KSI show exposed how hard physical comedy really is, Andrew Santino sincerely proposed doing a semester at clown school in France. Bobby agreed. This is apparently a real plan.
K-12 schools ask students to sit still, raise their hand, use fine motor skills, and be pleasers — behaviors that describe girls more than boys. Boys are twice as likely to be suspended for the same behavior, and five times as likely if they're Black. The system needs male teachers, national service, and kindergarten starting at 6 for boys.
Sunk costs are gifts from your former self — and like all gifts, you're allowed to decline them. Godin reframes every stuck-due-to-sunk-cost situation as a single question: knowing what you know now, would you choose this again?
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.