CCU ends relationship with anonymous donor who committed $95 million to the university
Easy come. Easy go.
In July, Coastal Carolina announced it was going to receive a planned gift of $95 million from a donor who wished to remain anonymous that would provide unprecedented future funding for the school’s academic and athletic programs.
It appears the university’s good fortune was too good to be true.
CCU announced Tuesday that it has ended its relationship with the anonymous donor, who was from Alabama and described himself as an African American entrepreneur and philanthropist under the age of 30, according to the university’s July release.
In its explanation in a statement Tuesday, the university said:
“The university/donor relationship surrounding such substantial amounts of money is complex and normally includes some baseline expectations of the University and the donor. Unfortunately, the donor, who will continue to remain anonymous, has not fulfilled an early expectation of the arrangement causing the University to reevaluate and ultimately terminate the agreement. While we are disappointed this gift will not come to fruition, we remain excited to work with donors to positively impact the future of Coastal Carolina and its students.”
A planned gift is arranged in the present and allocated in the future, commonly through a will or trust after the donor has died.
CCU said in July the purported donor has a background in financial services and agriculture, is committed to initiatives that support the health and betterment of communities, and is also involved with several institutions in Alabama including Miles College, one of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). In addition, he was exploring supporting other HBCUs in neighboring states for further substantive philanthropic efforts, CCU said.
At the time of the July announcement, the donor’s legal teams and his financial consulting company were working with CCU’s Office for Philanthropy to finalize details of the commitment.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 5:03 PM.
