Trinity is very disappointed in the April 23 story run by the Wall Street Journal about a restricted gift made to the College in the 1970s, not only for its several inaccuracies and but also for its erroneous implications.
Trinity College has acted honorably and with proper donor and family stewardship since the late Mr. Shelby Cullom Davis conveyed his original gifts to the College through his family foundation, well over 30 years ago. Letters exchanged between Mr. Davis and Trinity’s then-president Ted Lockwood confirmed the College’s creation of an endowed chair in American Business and Economic Enterprise, funded by Mr. Davis’s gift of $750,000. In 1981, the College asked Mr. Davis for permission to further utilize some of the income from the fund for business internships. Mr. Davis’ reply to President Lockwood, in a letter dated June 24, 1981, confirmed his own strong interest in that endowed chair and related programs, including business internships.
As the result of significant gains in market value of the chair (reaching a value of $13.6 million by June 30, 2007) and because the chair’s funding needs were more than adequately met, it was clear that there was significant unspent income being returned properly to the Davis Endowment’s corpus. Motivated by a strong interest to be effective stewards of those funds, the College inquired with several members of the Davis family (Mr. Davis at that time was deceased) about their potential support for a proposal to not only continue to fully fund the chair but also to direct some of the unused income toward scholarships for international students, which was an area of interest expressed by several surviving Davis family members. Interestingly, the Davis Chair holder also advocated the use of excess income for scholarship in a memo dated in 1993. A member of the family took the initiative to canvass some other family members, who conveyed their support of this proposal. While family members do not have legal standing in this matter, the College nonetheless chose to include them in discussions.
Because the College knew it could not act unilaterally in assigning additional uses from income generated by the Davis Endowment, it formally sought the advice and approval of the Connecticut Attorney General before preparing a petition to a Connecticut court for formal approval. The Attorney General instructed Trinity to reconstitute a proposal more closely aligned with the Donor’s written intent. A new proposal will be submitted shortly. The College has continued to be in close and cooperative contact with the Attorney General’s office on these matters and has welcomed the counsel given by that office, including a stated concern that the College may have spent more from the Davis Fund for the Internship Office than might be justified. Accordingly, in mid-April, the College returned approximately $191,000 to the Davis Fund, satisfying the Attorney General’s recommendation.
The Professor who has held the chair for over 30 years has now suggested that his program has been “starved” of adequate funding. The facts do not support this claim. For over 30 years, the Davis Fund has been providing the salary and benefits to that Professor, support for an administrative assistant, office space (without charge), program support, and even funds for the renovation of the chair holder’s office, overall amounting to a total of over $300,000 per year. This year, that amount doubled to over $600,000 because of hiring replacement adjunct professors while the chair holder took a one year’s paid sabbatical leave.
It was suggested by the chair holder in the Wall Street Journal article that Trinity should allocate the Davis Endowment resources to multiple chairs in American Enterprise. This is not in keeping with the donor’s intent to create a single chair. Further, given the broad spectrum of economics taught at Trinity, there is not a compelling need or demand for more faculty in this specialty.
There are assertions made by the chair holder that President Jones acted inappropriately in an October, 2008 meeting. This is patently false. The President, witnessed by the Secretary of the College, made it clear to the chair holder that the administration of the Davis Endowment was the fiduciary responsibility of the President and Trustees of Trinity College and also made clear that all future spending for the Davis Endowment was subject to Presidential approval. The subject of dismissal of the individual did not come up. Indeed, President Jones inquired if the professor was planning to retire, as reported, or continue to teach. The chair holder, a contract member of the College’s faculty, is on a paid sabbatical and will be reviewed by the Appointments and Promotions (A&P) Committee of the Faculty prior to 2010, the end of his present contract. At that time, as is the usual process, the A & P Committee will make a recommendation to the Dean of the Faculty.
Despite the suggested allegations in the Wall Street Journal article, Trinity has acted properly, has consulted with several family members and the Attorney General’s office, and has taken its fiduciary responsibility very seriously. We find that the headline (“New Unrest on Campus as Donors Rebel”) in the article to be unnecessarily incendiary and the content specific to Trinity to be misleading, at times inaccurate, and generally unfair.
Trinity will continue to work cooperatively with the Attorney General’s office in developing opportunities to better utilize these unspent and reinvested funds, consistent with the Donor’s stated intentions.
We certainly appreciate all of your support as we address this unfortunate situation as aggressively as we can.