Guest Blogger: Giving to Educational Institutions: How Much Control Should Donors Have?
by John Weaver, Editor-At-Large
University administrators are closely watching developments in Robertson v. Princeton University, a New Jersey case concerning a $35 million donation given to Princeton in 1961 for its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs by Marie Robertson. The donation created the Robertson Foundation, which Princeton operates through university-appointed trustees to fund the school.
In their lawsuit, Robertson’s heirs assert the gift was intended to prepare students for work in the federal government, the Wilson School is not doing so, and that Princeton has used the money for other ends. Princeton argues the terms of the donation do not require students to prepare for government careers, rather that its terms state students "may prepare" for government careers. The university also points to graduates like Anthony Lake, a former national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, and General David Petraeus, who have entered public service.
The Robertsons filed suit in 2002, alleging Princeton misused $200 million of the Foundation's money, which would have generated $400 million had it had been invested in the Wilson School.. The trial will decide whether the Robertson Foundation's Princeton-designated trustees will continue in their roles and whether Princeton must compensate the Foundation for misuse of its funds. The family is seeking the nearly $900 million endowment be removed from Princeton’s control, as well as $600 million in damages. Superior Court Judge Neil Shuster declared that the Robertson Foundation would only be removed from the university under “the most egregious and nefarious of circumstances.”
Higher education currently receives more donations than ever before – $28 billion in 2006 – and university administrators are concerned about the implications for the terms and conditions of gifts. Some hope this lawsuit will result in universities being more responsive to donor needs. However, John Lippincott of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education argues that major gifts are already predicated upon “long-term relationships built on trust and mutual interest.”
Others worry that a major decision against Princeton will adversely affect the growth of higher education. Joseph Nye, a former dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, said that “If the heirs of donors are allowed to micromanage an academic institution a generation after a gift has been given, it will seriously curtail the creativity and initiative that has marked the recent administration of the Wilson school as well as set a bad precedent for other academic institutions.”