When Texas oilman Lee Bass pledged $20 million to Yale University in 1995, he envisioned its being spent to create an intensive academic program devoted to Western civilization. But Yale returned the money because administrators had not anticipated that Bass would insist on having the say-so over which professors would take part. Not acceptable, Yale brass ruled.
One would be hard-pressed to find many other instances of colleges refusing such generosity — Yale is in a position to do so because it is so vastly endowed already. Many schools are more than willing to take big donations that come...
