Princeton Funding Dispute Headed for Trial
Princeton University has failed to win a key pretrial ruling in a suit that seeks return a gift now valued at $880 million.
The children of the late Charles and Marie Robertson say the school didn’t spend the money as their parents intended—to train students for international government service. They want the money back so they can give it to other charities, the Wall Street Journal (sub.req.) reports.
Yesterday Judge Neil Shuster of New Jersey refused to grant Princeton’s motion to have the school declared the sole beneficiary of the gift. He said the school could lose all of the money if the children, heirs of the A&P supermarket fortune, win at trial.
The ruling was one of seven made yesterday favoring both sides of the case, the Associated Press reports. The split rulings “did not stop both sides from declaring an early victory,” Inside Higher Ed reports.
