Monday, September 09, 2013

$250 million pledge to Kentucky college withdrawn; it says it couldn't reach deal with donor in time

UPDATE, Oct. 2: BuzzFeed reports the complicated deal fell apart partly because of unusual requirements the donor wanted to place on scholarship recipients.

A $250 million gift to a college in rural Kentucky has been withdrawn. The donation, which was announced in July by Centre College, was the largest ever to a liberal-arts school. The school said Monday in a news release, "The gift from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust was linked to a 'significant capital market event'," Bruce Schreiner reports for The Associated Press. "The statement didn't offer further explanation but said it put considerable time pressure on the college to structure the gift and the proposed scholarship program."

Danville, Ky., home of Centre (Wikipedia map)
"The college said the two sides ultimately decided they could not finalize the deal and get the required approval in the time available," Schreiner writes. "The all-stock donation had ranked among the 20 biggest gifts ever to a U.S. college or university, according to a list maintained by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It had been the second-largest such gift to a U.S. school since 2011, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, surpassed only by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's $350 million donation to Johns Hopkins University announced earlier this year."

Centre College President John Roush said, "I am deeply disappointed with this unanticipated development. The trust was inspired to make this gift because of the transformational education students receive at Centre, and we anticipated hundreds of young men and women benefiting from this scholarship." (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/09/2812260/250-million-gift-to-centre-college.html#emlnl=Breaking_news#storylink=c

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/09/2812260/250-million-gift-to-centre-college.html#emlnl=Breaking_news#storylink=cp

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/09/2812260/250-million-gift-to-centre-college.html#emlnl=Breaking_news#storylink=cpy

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