September 14, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
A Florida orthodontist who made pledges that totaled more than $135-million to three dental schools has said that he will not be honoring his commitments, the colleges’ officials have said.
Gasper Lazzara, chief executive of the Orthodontic Education Company and Imagine Orthodontics, pledged in 2003 to give $95.7-million over 30 years to the University of Colorado’s dental school, but he told officials there in May that he would be unable to continue the payments.
He made a similar commitment, for $40-million, to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas but reneged on it this summer. At Jacksonville University, in Florida, he canceled plans to pay for scholarships for a dozen students.
Dr. Lazzara’s agreement with Colorado included a $3-million gift toward construction of a $25-million clinical dental facility, in Aurora. He paid that sum, but did not fulfill the rest of the pledge, which he promised through a contractual agreement between the school and the Orthodontic Education Company.
Under the deal, the dental program would train 16 students each year, with 12 of them receiving full scholarships paid by the company. Those students would then commit to working at one of the company’s dental practices.
Some experts question whether the university should have accepted the scholarship pledge.
“In giving a gift, a donor is not supposed to get something in return,” says Leslie Lenkowsky, a professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University, in Indianapolis. “Colleges are not job-placement agencies. They are in the business of educating students.”
Dr. Lazzara said that he has discontinued payments to the three universities because his company does not need to hire more orthodontists.
“Educational institutions should be more appreciative of how hard it is to donate so much money, especially because there is a crisis in public funding,” he said. “Football won’t do it all.”
Dr. Lazzara has paid $1.75-million of a $3.5-million pledge that is part of his $40-million commitment to the University of Nevada. The money is being used for a building now under construction, said Gerry J. Bomotti, vice president for finance and business.
At Jacksonville University, officials say they bear no ill will toward Dr. Lazzara. “We never counted that money in advance,” said Derek Hall, a university spokesman. “It’s a business deal. It’s not a donation.”
In 2003 Dr. Lazzara’s foundation gave Jacksonville $3.5-million to build a new health-sciences center at the university that bears his name. Because the gift was paid in full, the university has no plans to rename the building, Mr. Hall said.
Erin Strout is a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Nicole Lewis contributed to this article.
