In 1961, when the A.&P. grocery heirs Charles and Marie Robertson gave Princeton a $35 million gift endowment, they directed that the money should be used to educate graduate students for careers in government.
The Robertsons' heirs balked at how the money was being used. Their contention was that the money was given, as stated above, to prepare students for professional careers in government. The Woodrow Wilson school gives almost all of its grad students full grants so that graduates won't have to pursue lucrative careers to pay off massive loans, which I think makes sense. More recently, many Woody Woo graduates went to work for NGOs instead of the government. So, they were going into public service, but not specifically in government employment. (I'll ignore the asshats who game the system and leverage the quantitatively focused tracks into, formerly, lucrative careers in investment banking or use the MA as a feather in their cap for law school apps.)
That's pretty much how it started. The heirs were upset that more Woody Woo grads weren't taking government jobs, and they filed suit.
Either from discovery for the lawsuit or some other method, it came to light that Princeton was budgeting the money to pay for landscaping and other such things for buildings that were not primarily used by the Woodrow Wilson School. It got very confusing with accusations, rebuttals, and counter-accusations.
Anyway, there's been a settlement.
Princeton will pay $40 million in legal fees, and, starting in 2012, another $50 million, plus interest, to a new foundation that will support education for government service. Princeton will be able to use the remainder of the money for the Wilson school, as it chooses.
That's not chump change.
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