Hillsdale and Missouri Settle Battle Over Bequest

Hillsdale College has settled a lawsuit against the University of Missouri over the terms of a bequest to the university’s endowment.

The 2017 lawsuit said Hillsdale, a private liberal arts college in Michigan, should receive a $5 million gift from a deceased donor because the money wasn’t being spent at the University of Missouri as the donor wished, MLive reported. The donor asked that Missouri use the money to fund chairs and professorships filled by appointees who follow the teachings of a pro-free-market economist, according to the Associated Press. Hillsdale was charged with certifying that the university was complying.

Hillsdale’s suit claimed the university hadn’t appointed appropriate professors and that the university was to forfeit the gift to the college if it didn’t comply with the donor’s wishes. With the settlement, the two sides “agreed to disagree” over the bequest, according to a University of Missouri spokesman. Hillsdale will give up oversight of the gift, and $4.7 million of the original bequest will stay with Missouri. The gift is currently valued at about $9.2 million.