(CNN) Physics professor Vinod Menon doesn't get much mail at the office, so when The City College of New York (CCNY) returned to in-person classes this semester, he was greeted with some junk mail and a nondescript package in a battered cardboard box.
Menon, the chairman of the physics department, at first thought it was some sort of memento sent by a former student, but when he opened the box on September 1, he found stacks for $50 and $100 bills -- $180,000 in all.
"I've never seen this kind of money in real life in cash form," Menon told CNN. "I've never seen it except in movies, and so, yeah, I was shell shocked and I just did not know how to react."
There was an unsigned letter in the package explaining that the donor graduated "long ago" from The City College of New York with a double major in physics and mathematics, then got an MA in physics there and went on to get a double PhD in physics and astronomy.
"Assuming that you are (a) bit curious as to why I am doing this, the reason is straightforward: the excellent educational opportunity available to me -- which I took full advantage of at CCNY (and Stuyvesant High School) -- gave me the basis to continue to develop," the letter said.
11twofour on December 22nd, 2021 at 02:21 UTC »
How is a person smart enough to get a double PhD in physics and astronomy but dumb enough to send a box of cash halfway across the country?
ricksza on December 22nd, 2021 at 00:19 UTC »
It was originally $250K.
drafter69 on December 21st, 2021 at 23:12 UTC »
Doesn't sound like the mail room is very talented