Dear Members of the 17³Ô¹ÏÍø Community,
Over the past week, you may have noticed news accounts about a lawsuit involving the Prior Performing Arts Center and the donor for which it is named. I can’t tell you how deeply saddened we are about this situation. The donor’s allegations are simply untrue.
Around a year ago we informed our community of the donor’s lawsuit, through which he seeks to take back $21 million in funds he had donated to the College over the past decade or so. We believe this matter is governed by a written pledge agreement that was signed by both parties in February 2014 and requires that we first work to resolve this matter privately through mediation or arbitration. Because we were honoring our promise to seek a private resolution, we have not yet told our full story. At this point, however, the donor’s most recent legal actions and the resulting publicity have made it impossible for us to avoid sharing the facts.
To begin, the donor was a member of our board of trustees when the pledge agreement was signed and approved by the board. Trustees are bound to act in the best interests of the College, and the donor continued to serve as a trustee until June of 2021, most of the period in question. Through terms he advocated during negotiations, the donor was intimately involved in planning for the building that would bear his name, including selecting a world-renowned architect and consulting on design decisions large and small throughout the process. He frequently lobbied for choices that caused the project’s cost to balloon, ultimately growing from an original estimate of up to $57 million—for which he pledged $25 million in support—to a final project cost of $109 million.
The donor alleges the College delayed the project. However, the trustees, including the donor, had unanimously approved a requirement that two thirds of the funding required for any building project—not just this project—must be raised before the College could put shovels in the ground. These cost increases caused by the donor’s choices extended the timeline and the necessity to secure sufficient funds from additional generous donors before the project could begin.
The College also continued to follow the terms of the pledge agreement. As construction neared completion and the deadline approached for the final payment on his pledge, we made repeated attempts to remind the donor of his obligation beginning months before it came due, and thereafter, to give the donor every opportunity to fulfill his promise to 17³Ô¹ÏÍø. Unfortunately, he did not.
Many see this lawsuit as a dispute over money, but it is more than that for the College. With the suit, the donor has unfairly challenged the integrity of the College itself, the board of trustees and many people who have dedicated their professional lives in service to our mission. Let me be clear: The College and our trustees take seriously our responsibility as stewards of donor funds, and we manage our obligations to our donors with due care and good faith. As was shared with the donor throughout design and construction, the funds he contributed were used entirely in accordance with the terms of the pledge agreement he signed in 2014. For him to claim otherwise is untrue.
Throughout the process of planning, designing, and constructing this magnificent building, we worked with the donor and our campus community to develop a shared vision for this home for the performing arts at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø. We were able to achieve that vision, thanks to the hard work of many people and the generosity of so many of you in our community. As anyone who has attended a performance, taken a class, or simply walked past the center knows, the project is a soaring success. The donor himself has joined us in celebrating that fact, most recently at the building’s formal dedication in May. Nothing said in court or in the media can change this.
Our commitment to the arts—and to the vision of the arts at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø that the center represents—is unwavering. We will not allow this situation to compromise that commitment. You can rest assured that the College is on sound financial footing. The work being done at the Prior Performing Arts Center is central to our mission as a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal arts institution, and it will continue unhindered by this lawsuit.
And that is important, especially now. The arts are transcendent. They allow us to express who we are, to communicate emotions, and to share our personal and cultural experiences, from the painful to the exhilarating. I’m so proud of the transformational work being done at the center and across campus to bring the arts to life for our students, our entire 17³Ô¹ÏÍø community and our city. It will build distinction for 17³Ô¹ÏÍø for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Vincent D. Rougeau
President