From the article, it sounds like 'fiscal 2009' must've encompassed late 2008/early 2009, in which case 30% losses would not be abnormal. Otherwise this line sounds a bit odd:
At the end of fiscal 2008, Yale continued to turn in the best 10-year performance with an average annualized gain of 16.3 percent, which was followed by Harvard with 13.8 percent.
Yale's endowment lost 30% in 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/business/11harvard.html .
Heck - even the stuff that I barely pay attention to did better than that.
How many of you lost 30% on the investments that you manage?