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UConn donor demands return of $3M donation, then allows them to keep it

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wadc45

wadc45

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Unhappy with UConn AD, donor wants $3M back

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A major benefactor to the University of Connecticut wants the school to return $3 million in donations and remove his family name from its football complex because he says he was shut out of discussions about the selection of a new football coach.

Robert Burton, chief executive officer of Greenwich, Conn.-based Burton Capital Management, said in a Jan. 19 letter to UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway that his opinions were ignored and he did not support the way Paul Pasqualoni was selected as coach.

Burton called the situation "a slap in the face and embarrassment to my family," and said he planned "to let the correct people know that you did not listen to your number one football donor. He called the search process flawed.

"We want our money and respect back," Burton wrote to Hathaway.

Burton, who played college football at Murray State, said although he was not seeking veto power in the hiring, he "earned my voice on this subject" as the program's top donor. He said he has hired lawyers to enforce his demand to get his donations back.

The Day newspaper of New London first reported news of the letter Tuesday and the response from UConn, which has not said whether it will return the donations or remove the name from the Burton Family Football Complex.

In a written statement on behalf of UConn and Hathaway, the athletic department said that Burton was among many interested people who offered input, and that Hathaway "did receive and acknowledge" Burton's advice before Pasqualoni was hired.

"In the end, the decision was appropriately made by the university in the best interests of UConn and our football program," the statement said.

"The Burton family has been exceptionally supportive of the University of Connecticut for many years. The university is grateful to the family, especially for the benefits they have provided to many of our students."

Continued....
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Interesting topic that was just being discussed on Mike and Mike...
 
Interesting, particularly if you assume he tried to work with the school before going public.

But unless UCONN has started selling stock in their football program this guy is way out of line.
 
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A Pac;1863591; said:
someone should inform burton that uconn isn't oregon. unless you own nike, they're not going to listen to you. basketball is king in connecticut. everyone knows that.
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Burton is Nike to UConn... and despite the notoriety of hoops there... the money maker remains football...

UConn is not blessed with a lot of money... their facilities (especially training) are notorious for being some of the worst in all of the NCAA... they can ill-afford to [censored] off the only major contributor they have...

I'm sure Burton did not want this to be public.. but regardless if he wins or loses... UConn loses...big time

They needed to kiss Burton's ass... The school needed to handle this differentially... minimally to give Burton lip service...

UConn will be hurt in every aspect... every sport... and the academic institution itself... this will be very sorely missed revenue
 
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If you can't afford to tell a donor "no" when they try to exert too much influence, then you were in over your head anyway. Perhaps this is going to be more like an overvalued stock experiencing a correction.
 
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NJ-Buckeye;1863628; said:
Burton is Nike to UConn... and despite the notoriety of hoops there... the money maker remains football...

UConn is not blessed with a lot of money... their facilities (especially training) are notorious for being some of the worst in all of the NCAA... they can ill-afford to [censored] off the only major contributor they have...

I'm sure Burton did not want this to be public.. but regardless if he wins or loses... UConn loses...big time

They needed to kiss Burton's ass... The school needed to handle this differentially... minimally to give Burton lip service...

UConn will be hurt in every aspect... every sport... and the academic institution itself... this will be very sorely missed revenue
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All of this may be true (i.e., Burton will whine and attempt to take his money elsewhere), but I'm not sure why he thought his money would make him a decision maker at UConn.
 
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buckeyesin07;1863635; said:
All of this may be true (i.e., Burton will whine and attempt to take his money elsewhere), but I'm not sure why he thought his money would make him a decision maker at UConn.
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He got confused and thought UCONN ran things like Auburn.
 
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It's not the what they did.. it's the how they did it...

"The University of Connecticut football team now enjoys the finest on-campus football facilities in the country - thanks in large part to the building of The Burton Family Football Complex."

You don't bite the hand that feeds you


I'm not saying anyone is right.. and I see both sides as wrong... but it's not a cerebral thing for the goumada of 'Tony Soprano' to ignore him.. unless she had already lined up a different support and protection angle
 
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Total punk move on this guy's part. First and foremost, it's called a "donation" for a reason...once you give the money, it's no longer yours. Unless the university legally misused the funds, or the university made some sort of agreement prior to the donation (which would no longer make it a "donation" per se), this guy has no leg to stand on.

He seems to want to remain directly involved in football after his playing days and is doing so vicariously through his donations, which is cool, provided he realizes that making donations doesn't make him part of the formal hiring process.

If he's that pissed off, then he should make no further donations, but the money he already gave is no longer his. Tough shit.
 
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It's the first time that AD Hathaway had to make an important hire, and he screwed up by not kissing the ass of his biggest donor.

Auriemma and Calhoun were hired in '85 and '86 respectively, and the basketball programs have each won multiple national titles. Edsall was hired by Lew Perkins in '99, and led the program from I-AA to a BCS bowl game. So UConn hasn't had to make an important hire in 12 years.

I think that Mili's right in that the guy shouldn't get his money back unless there were conditions attached to it, but it's a major screwup to piss him off. They'll need money from him in the future, and aren't likely to get it. It's not that hard to keep somebody informed during the hiring process, and let him think he's involved with the decision, even if he's not going to make the actual decision.

But if the guy's got enough ego to be whining publicly afterwards, he should have let Hathaway know as soon as Edsall left that he wanted to be included in what was going on. And at least one of them is a jerk and/or an idiot for this to have been the result.

It also makes UConn football look small-time, which can hurt them with recruits and other coaching hires (even for assistants) in the future.
 
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BB73;1863656; said:
It also makes UConn football look small-time, which can hurt them with recruits and other coaching hires (even for assistants) in the future.
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Look small time? :lol:

As part of its bowl contract, the school received 17,500 tickets for the game, which carry face values of $111 to $268 each, but as of last week it had only sold about 4,000, according to officials. The school launched an advertising campaign to sell the tickets, but the still recovering economy, and lower prices for game tickets on the secondary market, appear to be tripping up those efforts. In addition, the game will be played in Arizona, and airfares from Connecticut can easily run into the several hundred dollar range.

In an email last week to UConn season ticket holders and fans, the school said it needed to sell more than 13,000 of its 17,500-ticket allotment, and in television ads, the school is trying to entice fans to buy tickets as a donation, even if they cannot attend the game, and those tickets will be given to military personnel as a gift.
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link
 
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MililaniBuckeye;1863649; said:
Total punk move on this guy's part. First and foremost, it's called a "donation" for a reason...once you give the money, it's no longer yours. Unless the university legally misused the funds, or the university made some sort of agreement prior to the donation (which would no longer make it a "donation" per se), this guy has no leg to stand on.

He seems to want to remain directly involved in football after his playing days and is doing so vicariously through his donations, which is cool, provided he realizes that making donations doesn't make him part of the formal hiring process.

If he's that [censored]ed off, then he should make no further donations, but the money he already gave is no longer his. Tough [Mark May].
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You're right. The only way that he can ask for his money back is if UCONN used it for purposes other than for what it was explicitly donated for.

He's not even an alumnus and has made it perfectly clear that he's going to try to hurt UCONN in every manner at his disposal solely because they wouldn't let him hire the football coach. I'd grant his request to take his name off the building. As for his other "demands," I'd tell him to go fuck himself with a big bag of Mark May's dicks while using every bit of p.r. firepower at my disposal to make him a national joke.
 
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