Princeton Makes Payment to Robertson Fund

As part of a five-year-old dispute between heirs of a major donor and Princeton University, the university announced this week it had repaid nearly $800,000 to the Robertson Foundation, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The sum supported graduate students in a handful of programs—a use of money that the donors’ heirs have said was not in keeping with the original intent of the gift. The children of Charles S. and Marie H. Robertson sued Princeton in 2002, accusing the university of misusing more than $200-million from the foundation their parents established, the paper reports.

Princeton controls the foundation’s board—it was established in 1961 with a $35-million gift to Princeton—and has denied any misuse of the money. But it agreed to make the payment this week because it had not disclosed to the board that the money would support the graduate students.

The current value of the gift fund, held in a separate foundation, is $800-million and represents about 6 percent of the university’s endowment, reports The Wall Street Journal.

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