Lincoln University Foundation renames, hopes to get info from school
The non-profit foundation that raised money for scholarships at Lincoln University hopes to get critical financial information back from the school.
The Lincoln University Foundation, Inc. announced on Thursday that it changed its name to “The 62nd & 65th Regiments Legacy Foundation,” and said the school still has not given them the records needed for them to award scholarships. James Tippin, general counsel for the foundation, said that included bank statements, memorandums of understanding with donors and software the foundation used prior to the school severing ties with it in February.
“They have all of our tax returns, the MOU, memorandums of understanding with the donors, the bank statements,” Tippin said. “We don’t have anything except our new location, and a new name, and a willing board.”
The foundation announced it would host a news conference on Friday at 11 a.m. at its new office, 619 East Capitol Avenue, to discuss the issues further.
LU announced the end of its relationship with the foundation on Feb. 26 to begin raising funds directly. School spokeswoman Misty Young said then that the move was “consistent with best practices in the higher education fundraising to assure the most effective and efficient use of donated funds.”
The school and foundation worked together since 1972, and Tippin said they are still seeking answers as to why the relationship ended.
“If you’re asking for any matrix that could be measured to say that we haven’t met certain qualifications, the answer to that is no,” Tippin said. “If you’re asking was there some other concern, there might have been. But I think it would be more appropriate for the president of the foundation to discuss that and the foundation board at the hearing tomorrow.”
The foundation’s 2016 tax filing shows that it had $9.5 million in assets that year, and awarded 116 grants to students worth $209,000.
Tippin said the foundation changed its name after school administration asked them to. The name of the foundation refers to the colored units of the Civil War that fought for the Union and helped start the university in 1866. Young told ABC 17 News on Thursday that they requested the name change to avoid donor confusion.
“To avoid donor confusion, the University thought it best that the Foundation no longer include the name of the University in its name, and therefore, the University requested the Foundation to discontinue its use,” Young said.
The school’s decision to separate itself from the foundation left the foundation without a place to operate. The foundation worked out of the university’s buildings, and Tippin said the school provided administrative services to the foundation for its operations.
“We didn’t have to have an office with files and that sort of thing, that was all at the university,” Tippin said. “And it was a very abrupt termination of being put off campus.”
