Foundation sues Lincoln University
A not-for-profit organization sued Lincoln University on Monday, seeking to recover its documents and assets including more than $667,000.
The suit was filed by the 62nd and 65th Regiments Legacy Foundation, formerly known as the Lincoln University Foundation, after the university abruptly scuttled an agreement between the two in February. The university made its decision public the next month. The foundation had served as the university’s fundraising arm through an agreement amended in 2015, according to the lawsuit filed in Cole County.
The foundation is named for the units of soldiers who put up money to help found the historically black university after the Civil War.
In the lawsuit the foundation accused the university of a breach of its agreements “with the Foundation and its donors” and dealing in bad faith.
Lincoln University officials cited a desire for the school to take on fundraising duties itself when they ended their relationship with the foundation in February. Foundation leaders responded by renaming the group and saying the university had kept the organization’s funds and records.
The lawsuit also asks a judge to make Lincoln stop using the foundation’s donor information and documents.
“The University was surprised and disappointed to see that the Foundation has filed suit against the University that it exists to support,” said Lincoln University spokeswoman Misty Young. “We don’t think this litigation is a good use of the University funds held by the Foundation and as to which it is a fiduciary. We are not aware of any legitimate basis for such a lawsuit and the University will defend itself and seek to get the suit dismissed.”
Lincoln and the foundation operated under an agreement in place since 2000 that required the school to provide facilities and administrative support for the foundation, according to the lawsuit. The foundation reimbursed the university for a percentage of those services, the lawsuit says.
The relationship began to change when Jerald Woolfolk took over as university president, according to the lawsuit. In November Woolfolk asked to transfer money from the foundation to the university, the suit claims. The university tried to get the foundation to sign a new agreement under which 50 percent of the foundation’s unrestricted funds would be earmarked for the president’s use, according to the lawsuit.
The foundation requested a meeting and the university responded by severing the relationship effective Feb. 18.
The lawsuit claims the university eight days later transferred $667,000 from the foundation to the university in consultation with a foundation board member. The university also withheld some documents requested by the foundation, according to the suit.
The foundation has also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to immediately force the university to resurrect the agreement between the two and stop using foundation funds and donor information.
James Tippin is an attorney for the foundation and issued a statement on the lawsuit, available below, on Thursday.
Tippin, a Lincoln alum, told ABC 17 News on Tuesday that the current issues between the university and the foundation are “heart-wrenching,” considering their decades-long history.
