Quick Takes

Nine universities have received mysterious seven-figure gifts in recent weeks, in return for a promise not to seek the identity of the donor, the Associated Press reported. All of the institutions identified by the AP are public, and most are not flagships. The mystery donor used lawyers or intermediaries to deliver the funds, and requested that most of the money be used for scholarships. The universities and the size of the gifts are: Norfolk State University ($3.5 million), Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg ($3 million), Purdue University ($8 million), and the Universities of Colorado at Colorado Springs ($5.5 million), Iowa ($7 million), Maryland-University College ($6 million), North Carolina at Asheville ($1.5 million), North Carolina at Greensboro ($6 million) and Southern Mississippi ($6 million).

Yeshiva University, which invested and lost millions with Bernard Madoff, has revised its conflict of interest rules, barring trustees from doing business with the university, Bloomberg reported. Madoff was a member of Yeshiva's board, as was Ezra Merkin, whose investment firm sent Yeshiva's funds to Madoff.

Players and the coach of the volleyball team at Quinnipiac University, backed by the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, have sued the university in federal court, charging that its plans to eliminate the sport violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The suit charges that, even before proposing to eliminate the sport, the university failed all of the possible tests for compliance with Title IX. The ACLU released the suit and a letter sent to the university last month requesting discussions on the issue. University officials told the Associated Press they would not comment because the matter is in litigation.

Georgetown University and President Obama have come under criticism for a decision to cover religious iconography in a university building where Obama gave a speech Tuesday. As one Georgetown professor pointed out on his blog, the letters IHS, symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ, were obscured when Obama spoke on the economy at the Roman Catholic university's Gaston Hall. Julie Green Bataille, spokeswoman for Georgetown, called the covering of the letters a "logistical issue" in an e-mail to Inside Higher Ed. "In coordinating the logistical arrangements for the event, Georgetown honored the White House staff's request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind the Gaston Hall stage in order to accommodate a backdrop of American flags, consistent with other policy speeches," Bataille wrote. Patrick Deneen, chair of Hellenic studies and an associate professor of government at Georgetown, said the decision to cover the IHS symbol went far beyond simply obscuring university logos. "This is a central symbol of Christian faith," he said. "I think it’s a totally different matter than covering some kind of institutional insignia.” A White House spokesman issued a statement, saying "Decisions made about the backdrop for the speech were made to have a consistent background of American flags, which is standard for many presidential events. Any suggestions to the contrary are simply false." Cybercast News Service published pictures illustrating the covering of the symbols. The Georgetown situation comes in the wake of continuing criticism by conservative Catholics of the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite the president to speak at commencement, citing his views on abortion and other matters.

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the seminary and graduate school of the Reform branch of Judaism, may have to close two of its three American campuses because of financial troubles, the Los Angeles Times reported. The college is facing endowment declines, flat donations and pension difficulties, leading to the possible closures. The college currently has campuses in Cincinatti, Los Angeles, New York and Jerusalem, although there is no consideration of closing the Israeli branch.

An article in the Chicago Tribune explores an intense fight at Chicago State University over Tempo, the student newspaper. The publication's editor and former faculty adviser are suing over the latter's removal and alleged interference in the paper's operations following the publication of critical articles.The university denies any wrongdoing.

Some professors at Florida International University are planning to hand deliver a copy of the university's sexual harassment policy to Isiah Thomas as basketball coach, The New York Times reported. Thomas was at the center of a sexual harassment suit in which a federal jury awarded $11 million, and professors are raising questions about the message the university is sending about harassment by hiring him. Giving Thomas a copy of the harassment rules would be a "constructive rather than destructive way" to deal with the concerns, one professor said.