April 21, 2010; Reuters | Maybe we are just paying more attention but there seems to be a rash of donations to universities that later turn out to be an embarrassment to the donee. This story from Miami covers Nevin K. Shapiro, a donor who was involved in a $900 million dollar Ponzi scheme which he used to finance a “lavish lifestyle” which included charitable contributions and a pair of diamond studded handcuffs. But, getting back to the story, Shapiro redirected $150,000 in investor funds to the athletic program at Miami University, where a student athlete’s lounge is named for him. Again, NPQ will be running an excellent and highly practical article on what to do when a donor turns out to be tainted in its Spring issue. Subscribe today to be sure not to miss it.
Meanwhile, on a side note, lest we think that anti-semitism is dead, check out the comments at the end of this linked article. Ugly.—Ruth McCambridge
