John Davidson wasn’t about to be outdone by his childhood next-door neighbor.

After seeing news of a $10,000 donation from Srinija Srinivasan to the Lawrence Schools Foundation in a Journal-World story last week, Davidson decided he’d pitch in $10,000 of his own.

An executive with Morgan Stanley in New York, Davidson grew up next door to Srinivasan, editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Inc., on Colonial Court in Lawrence.

“I think it’s unfortunate the school financing situation in Lawrence, which is like the school financing situation in so many places, has gotten to the point that we need to do things like that,” Davidson said. “I think it’s typical of the way Lawrence has always been. If there’s a problem, they find a way to muster the people’s efforts and get around the problem.”

Srinivasan’s gift was a kickoff to the foundation’s first alumni fund-raiser. The foundation had hoped to at least match the $10,000 by the start of the fall semester. Susan Hazlett, foundation director, said the drive would continue to push forward.

“We believe there are many others who will want to show support for their hometown schools,” she said.

Davidson is managing director at Morgan Stanley, where he is head of global institutional securities operations. He is a 1973 graduate of Lawrence High School.

His father, Jack Davidson, served on the Lawrence school board from 1999 to 2003.

Davidson’s gift will go to support speech and debate programs at LHS and Free State High School. He was on the LHS debate squad during his high school years.

“Learning to communicate and speak in public serves you well no matter what you end up doing,” he said.

School group targets alumni wallets (6-4-04)

He insisted the money be split between LHS and Free State after seeing a recent Journal-World story in which some school board members expressed concern that private donations could lead to inequities among schools.

“You’ve got to treat everybody in an equal way,” he said. “You have to be fair to every student in the district, not just the ones that happened to go to your school.”