Ousted, renamed fundraising group demands finance info from LU
The foundation that raises money for scholarships at Lincoln University announced its new name Friday morning and talked about its need to get critical financial information back from the school.
During a 90+ minute press conference, leaders of “The 62nd & 65th Regiments Legacy Foundation” outlined the divorce from its former namesake university.
Hardy Dorsey, the board’s president, said the strife between Lincoln University and the foundation began with under the current administration under president Dr. Jerald Woolfolk.
Dorsey cited at least three questionable funding requests from the president’s office that were submitted with little expalination to the foundation, including a $40,000 sum for a forensic audit.
The requests received pushback from the foundation’s board, which Dorsey said sparked a breakdown in the relationship between the foundation and the university’s administration.
“The foundation members had always thought that, working together, we and the university could further strenghthen the performance of the foundation,” said Dorsey. “We recognize however, that expenditures requested by the university must be scrutinized through the lens of how they best serve the student body. whom we view is the heart of our mission.”
On January 17th, Woolfolk sent a memo to Dorsey informing him that the memorandum of understanding between the university and the foundation was terminated and attached a new one that included some key changes.
The updated MOU would grant the university president a lot more power over the foundation’s spending and require that all the foundation’s assets be tranfserred to the University in the event that the foundation ever dissolved.
The foundation rejected the president’s updated MOU, which foundation attorney James Tippen said prompted the presdent’s office to officially cut ties in a letter sent Feb. 20.
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 foundation sent a letter to the University requesting information and property that it needs to operate and distribute funds.
Until this information is returned, the foundation said it is blocked from granting scholarship funds, an effect of which could be decreased enrollment in the fall of 2019.
“The University blocks our efforts to carry out the wishes of our donors and distribute scholarships,” said Dorsey. “We have been removed from the campus and prevented from accessing the records and management tools owned by the foundation both of which are necessary to distribute 2019 scholarships in a timely manner.”
The official request from attorney James Tippin can be viewed by following this link.
