A faculty member has demanded that the University of California, Los Angeles reject a $10 million gift.
Professor Lynn A. Stout is objecting to the background of the donor, Lowell Milken, who was linked in 1989 to the Wall Street junk-bond scandal. The case sent Lowell’s brother, Michael Milken, to prison for two years, while Lowell was barred from future association with the securities industry.
Since then, both brothers have become large-scale donors to Jewish, Israeli, medical, education and other causes, and a Jewish high school in Los Angeles bears the Milken name.
The $10 million gift is earmarked for a future Milken Institute for business law at UCLA.
Stout told the Los Angeles Times, “I don’t think someone who has been banned from the security industry and barred from the New York Stock Exchange is an appropriate model for UCLA alumni and students.”
So far, no one has joined Stout in her lone battle, and many colleagues and university administrators have sharply criticized her.
“Everybody else here is thrilled with this gift,” said Professor Kenneth Klee. “I think we would want more of our alumni and students to become leading philanthropists.” — jta