Ray Charles Foundation Demands Return of University Gifts

In what will undoubtedly make a great teaching example with respect to the legal right of donors and their successors to enforce gifts, The Washington Post reports on a dispute between the Ray Charles Foundation and the Albany State University in Georgia.  The Foundation is requesting that the University return $3 million in donations ($1 million in 2001 and $2 million in 2002) made purportedly to build a performing arts center.  The University contends that the gift was unrestricted and that the school is still fundraising to build the center, the cost of which is estimated to total at least $23 million.  The $1 million donation is still held by the University in an account, but the $2 million gift was distributed to 125 students selected to be “Ray Charles Presidential Scholars.”

As reported in the Post article, a letter from the University’s legal counsel to the Foundation states that “When Mr. Charles made the two separate gifts to the University, he did so without restrictions.  The University does believe that a Fine Arts Building named after Mr. Charles, with a theatre named in honor of Mr. Charles’ mother, Mrs. Aretha Robinson, is one of the ways to do ‘the right thing.’ The University has been working tirelessly towards that goal.”

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