University of Alabama trustees meet on refunding $21M gift

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — University of Alabama trustees are meeting Friday morning to decide whether to return a $21.5 million gift by a philanthropist who recently called on students to boycott the school over the state’s new abortion ban.

Real estate investor and lawyer Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. says he has no doubt this is about his abortion remarks.

But university officials say the dispute has to do with his attempts to dictate how his donation is to be used. They say the 70-year-old made “numerous demands” regarding the operation of the school.

The trustees will also decide whether to strip Culverhouse’s name from the law school.