When donors give to a university, it is key that they attend to the fine print of the contract and maintain consistent verbiage; the Suder foundation lawsuit is a cautionary tale for donors.

"Recently, the New York Times reported the story of a philanthropist suing the University of Alabama. The thesis of the story was that the university, after receiving the last payment due from the man’s private foundation, wrote to say the program he was funding was being discontinued.

"Those of you who follow my posts know that this is the type of story that gets my blood boiling. Especially when it is the academic industry apparently failing to play fair with the donor. So I decided to investigate a little more."--Frank Monti, Inside Philanthropy