COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A conservative Michigan college with some powerful allies is suing the University of Missouri over a donor’s bequest in a dispute that centers on economic philosophy.
Hillsdale College is a 1,500-student college in rural Michigan supported by well-known conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and Jeffrey Coors.
The college is suing the University of Missouri over a $5 million bequest from Sherlock Hibbs, who graduated from Missouri in 1926. He died in 2002.
The Columbia Missourian reports court documents indicate Hibbs’ will requires Missouri to hire economic professors espousing the teachings of economist Ludwig van Mises Austrian School of Economics, which teaches that government’s only role is to defend people and property.
Hillsdale claims in the lawsuit that Missouri hasn’t met that requirement and should forfeit the remaining bequest to the college. Missouri officials disagree.
