Court to Hear Arguments in Dispute Over a Bequest

A Louisiana appeals court on Tuesday will listen to arguments in a dispute over the money used to create Tulane’s Newcomb College, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Tulane announced last year that it would consolidate Newcomb College, an institution created to serve women, into the university as part of an extensive restructuring required after the campus was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

The decision caused alumnae and students to protest, as did the heirs of Josephine Newcomb, who donated funds to Tulane.

Alumnae and student groups lost a court effort charging that Tulane violated the donor’s intentions. The heirs then sued to block Tulane from dismantling Newcomb College and lost in a state court; they have appealed the case to the circuit court, which will listen to arguments tomorrow.

“We’re not giving up,” Alicia Rogan Heard, an alumna of Newcomb told the newspaper.

Tulane has said the decision to change Newcomb’s status was necessary after the financial losses it has suffered in the aftermath of the hurricane.

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