The purpose of every college or university is to serve students, so it seems.

And so the hoopla arose when the ISU Foundation, which hits up alumni and university supporters for donations annually, outdid itself this year.

For the second year in a row, the Foundation accumulated over $100 million for ISU; in fact, this year’s fund-raising effort reached $103,553,618 — a new record for ISU.

Kudos to the ISU Foundation for a wonderful achievement.

But what’s wrong with this picture?

For starters, despite the increasing figures for donations, students still are shelling out bigger bucks for tuition and student fees for projects such as the current residence hall renovations.

Meanwhile, the student body has yet to hear just exactly how all of that money is going to benefit them.

In other words, what exactly is happening with the $200 million-plus raised over the past two years?

Are students truly reaping the benefits from the funds that were raised for them?

During Monday’s press conference, ISU President Martin Jischke boasted that the Foundation’s accomplishment was another step forward on the path for ISU’s main goal.

He maintained that ISU “has accepted a big challenge … to become the best land-grant university in the nation.”

In all the excitement and praise, Jischke focused on the university’s mission — and on fluffing up ISU’s, as well as his own, image. While doing so, he managed to overlook the one group who would benefit most from the fund-raising efforts: the ISU student body.

If a variety of students were asked what this campus needs, a diversity of suggestions would be offered.

Why is it that the administration fails to believe that what is good for the student body is also good for the university?

After all, we’re the reason ISU is here.

Some examples of what students have been begging for over the years include repairs to Morrill Hall, plans for a multicultural center and funding for both graduate student programs and for underrepresented departments at ISU.

But Jischke, as always, avoids listening to his students, as if the adage that children should be seen and not heard were still applicable.