Statement submitted to CBS Evening News

By Cass Cliatt on Feb. 12, 2007, 1:40 p.m.

Princeton University submitted the following statement to CBS Evening News for a segment on the Robertson litigation that aired on Feb. 11, 2007. The statement was edited extensively and did not appear in its entirety, failing to represent the University's position fully.

Descendants seek to overturn donor's intent

This lawsuit is an attempt by descendants of a donor to seize control of funds their parents chose to give to Princeton, not to them.  In making her extraordinarily generous gift more than 46 years ago, Marie Robertson donated these funds for the benefit of Princeton and gave Princeton continuing control over their use to expand and support its graduate program in public and international affairs.  Over the years Princeton has used the funds as intended to build one of the preeminent programs in the nation and the world.  Now almost half a century later her descendants are using an expensive lawsuit and PR campaign to try to overturn their parents’ clearly stated intent and wrest control of the funds for their own purposes.  Unlike these descendants of the donor, Princeton believes the decisions that were made by the donor should continue to be respected. 

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