TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on University of Alabama decision to return record donation (all times local):
1:10 p.m.
A top donor to the University of Alabama says he believes the school is punishing him after he called on students to boycott enrolling at the university in response to the state’s new abortion ban.
The university’s board of trustees voted Friday to return a $26.5 million gift to Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. and remove his name from the school of law. They say he made “numerous demands” regarding the operation of the school and that the decision had nothing to do with his call for a boycott.
Culverhouse, a 70-year-old Florida businessman, says he thinks the trustees reasoning is a “convenient lie,” adding that he believes they knew exactly what his expectations were when he made the gift in September.
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11:15 a.m.
The University of Alabama law school no longer bears the name of a donor who called for a boycott after the state passed a hardline anti-abortion law.
A maintenance crew Friday took down Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr.’s name from the school that was named for him. Earlier Friday, school trustees voted to return $26.5 million he’d pledged to the school as well.
The school says the dispute has to do with his attempts to dictate how his donation is to be used. They say the 70-year-old Culverhouse made “numerous demands” regarding the operation of the school.
Culverhouse says he has no doubt the moved was because of his abortion remarks.
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10 a.m.
University of Alabama trustees have voted to return a record $26.5 million to a donor who called for a boycott after the state passed a hardline anti-abortion law.
Real estate investor and lawyer Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. says he has no doubt this is about his abortion remarks.
But university officials say the dispute has to do with his attempts to dictate how his donation is to be used. They say the 70-year-old Culverhouse made “numerous demands” regarding the operation of the school.
The trustees also voted to strip Culverhouse’s name from the law school.
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University of Alabama trustees are meeting Friday morning to decide whether to return a $21.5 million gift by a philanthropist who recently called on students to boycott the school over the state’s new abortion ban.
Real estate investor and lawyer Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. says he has no doubt this is about his abortion remarks.
But university officials say the dispute has to do with his attempts to dictate how his donation is to be used. They say the 70-year-old made “numerous demands” regarding the operation of the school.
The trustees will also decide whether to strip Culverhouse’s name from the law school.
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