Relative of Donor Sues Brandeis U. After It Announces Plans to Destroy a Building

A family member of a donor to Brandeis University is suing the institution to prevent it from tearing down a building, saying that would violate the terms of an estate gift made in the 1950s.

Sumner Kalman, a lawyer from Plaistow, N.H., wants a Massachusetts court to stop the university from demolishing a science facility named after his great uncle, Julius Kalman, a real-estate mogul who gave Brandeis $1.8-million in 1956 as part of his will.

According to the lawsuit, the will required that the gift be used to construct a “building, buildings, or portion of a building” with Mr. Kalman’s name attached.

Brandeis, in Waltham, Mass., has said the Kalman building is outdated and will be replaced by a new state-of-the-art science center to be named after Ruth and Carl Shapiro, the founder of Kay Windsor, a women’s clothing company.

The Shapiros pledged $25-million from their family foundation to the school in 2006 for the new science facility. (The couple’s charitable fund was a victim of the Bernard Madoff investment scandal, and officials have said it will make no new grants this year but will fulfill its previous commitments.)

Resolving the Dispute

In a written statement, Judith R. Sizer, the university’s general counsel, said Brandeis intended to find a way to honor Mr. Kalman’s philanthropy and resolve the dispute with the family.

Mr. Kalman’s great nephew said he had been negotiating with the university for about a year and decided to sue this month because the discussions were not making progress.

If the Kalman building is demolished, he said, he would like the university to name another building or part of another building after his relative.

The legal fight is the second donor problem Brandeis has had this year. In January it announced that it would close the Rose Art Museum and sell some 6,000 pieces of art, valued at $350-million, to help its endowment, which fell 25 percent in 2008.

After protests by the Rose family and others, the university changed course and formed a panel to examine the future of the gallery and its artwork.