Tulane U. Faces Lawsuit Over Allegations That It Failed to Follow Donor’s Instructions

By Brennen Jensen

Relatives of Josephine Louise Newcomb, the woman whose charitable donations started Tulane University’s H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, have sued the institution to block what they see as an effort to dissolve the school and dishonor their family member’s legacy.

In March the Tulane University board of trustees announced plans to merge Newcomb College with Paul Tulane College to create a larger, co-educational school to be called Tulane-Newcomb College.

The plans are part of a comprehensive “renewal plan” developed by the New Orleans university in the wake of the $300-million worth of property damages and operating losses wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Currently the two undergraduate colleges are part of Tulane University’s 11 academic divisions, which include a medical school, law school, and a school of engineering.

Parma Matthis Howard and Jane Matthis Smith, descendents of Ms. Newcomb’s sister, assert that eliminating Newcomb as a separate college for women would violate the conditions that Ms. Newcomb set forth in 1886 when she gave Tulane $100,000 to create the college in honor of her daughter, who had died at age 15. Josephine Newcomb ended up bequeathing her entire estate of $2-million to the college in 1901, an amount that has since grown into a $40-million endowment.

“Mrs. Newcomb left crystal-clear restrictions on her donations, and Tulane is ignoring them,” said Shawn Holahan, a lawyer for Ms. Howard and Ms. Smith who is herself a Newcomb College graduate. “During her life she made it clear that her singular purpose in donating money to Tulane was for the creation of a separate degree-granting institution for women.”

Ms. Holahan added: “It will have a chilling effect on planned giving if donor restrictions are not honored.”

Denying Charges

Tulane has said that, in advance of the planned merger, set for July 1, it has created the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute.

The institute is designed to draw female students and staff members from across the university for an interdisciplinary program designed to enhance women’s education. The university says it believes the new institute is in keeping with Josephine Newcomb’s wishes.

“Under the renewal plan the Newcomb Endowment continues to support the education and enrichment of women at Tulane University,” said Michael Strecker, a Tulane University spokesman.

Newcomb College currently has 1,734 students, and Tulane College has 1,331, representing less than half of Tulane University’s total undergraduate enrollment. Mr. Strecker said that by combining the two schools, the university can streamline its organizational structure, reduce administrative costs, and provide a broader and more diversified set of academic services and programs.

The university’s plans have upset some Newcomb alumnae, students, and faculty members and has spurred the creation of a group calling itself Save Newcomb College. An earlier effort by past and present Newcomb students to block the merger in federal court failed when the judge ruled that the students and alumnae did not have a legal right to sue.

Renée Seblatnigg, president of Save Newcomb College and a Newcomb almuna, says 3,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the merger, and that angry alumnae are withholding $500,000 or more in donations to the college.