Lawsuit Claims Dartmouth College is Misusing Millions Left by Donor in His Will
“There is approximately $3.8 million left that Dartmouth is being asked to return”
If this is true, it’s not only a legal issue. It’s an ethics issue. Why would the school ignore this donor’s wishes?
The College Fix reports:
Dartmouth took donor’s millions, ignored his wishes: lawsuit
Dartmouth College should return millions of dollars in donations from a deceased supporter because it is no longer honoring his wishes, his estate continues to argue in court.
Alumnus Robert Keeler left money specifically for “upgrading and maintaining” Dartmouth’s Hanover Country Club golf course in his will.
But now representatives of Keeler’s (pictured) estate argue that the Ivy League university has not upheld its end of the agreement because it is using the money for the school’s golf teams instead of the country club, which it closed.
“Keeler’s estate and foundation have asked the court to essentially reopen the modification request and give them the right to show why Dartmouth should be forced to return the money,” the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. There is approximately $3.8 million left that Dartmouth is being asked to return, the newspaper reported.
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire has yet to issue a ruling as of June 12, according to a College Fix search.
The Attorney General’s Charitable Trusts Unit, which oversees the proper use of charitable funds, has said that Dartmouth can spend the money on “golf related” purposes since the original intent is no longer viable. In February, a court ruling agreed with the Charitable Trusts Unit, according to the Bulletin.
The Fix contacted the Charitable Trusts Unit by email and asked what legal analysis the unit relied on for determining Dartmouth could keep Keeler’s donation. A spokesman told The Fix that he could not comment on pending litigation.
On May 12, Peter Mithoefer, the executor of Keeler’s estate, wrote a letter to the editor in The Dartmouth and demanded that the college return the money.
“It is clear that Dartmouth wants the golf course land to build dormitories and other buildings,” Mithoefer wrote in the student newspaper.
“President Hanlon and Dartmouth are making a Faustian bargain with the use of a suspect interpretation of a legal argument that flies in the face of the agreement it made with the donor,” he alleged.
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Comments
Why would the school ignore this donor’s wishes?
Because they can, I suppose. Seems to happen all over the place. If I should suddenly become rich, I wouldn’t leave any money to a university for any stated purpose or name a building, because they’re lying liars who lie and are just low class whores when it comes to money.
“since the original intent is no longer viable.”
Only because the school MADE it no longer viable.
Win or lose…they’ll get fewer donors in the future.
The irony here is that the misuse of the gift makes possible and speeds up the repurposing of the golf course as the site of future dorms.