Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1980 [PAGE 294]

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284

BOARD OF T R U S T E E S

[May 16

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD President Forsyth called attention to the schedule of regular meetings for the next three m o n t h s : J u n e 20, Chicago Circle; July 18, U r b a n a ; September 19, Medical Center. H e also announced that a n executive session had been requested and would be convened after the meeting to consider reports of pending litigation. RECESS AND EXECUTIVE SESSION Following a short recess, the board reconvened in executive session and considered the following items of business. Mr. Neal did not return to the meeting at this time. Estate of Ora Gertrude Dimond, Deceased (27) Under the terms of the will of O r a Gertrude Dimond, deceased, a 140-acre farm and a residential property in Areola, Illinois, together with its contents, are left to her daughter, who is also named as executor of the will, and a $2,000 bequest is made to the Presbyterian Church in Areola. T h e residuary estate is placed in trust, with the direction that " a t least 5 percent" of the initial net fair market value is to be paid annually to five named individuals for their lives. After the death of the survivor of the five individuals, all assets of the trust are to be delivered to the University as the Dimond Scholarship Fund in Memory of William and Gertrude Dimond, a fund to be used for scholarships for persons seeking to become nurses or doctors. T h e will provides that the decedent's debts, funeral expenses, costs of administration, and taxes are to be paid "out of my assets which are not devised to charity." The executor has filed with the court a Petition for Instruction, seeking a ruling that these payments can be made out of the residuary estate, which has a present estimated value of $1,638,750. T h e payments in question are estimated to range between $200,000 and $300,000. The university counsel has recommended that he be authorized to take such steps as are necessary or appropriate, including the employment of special counsel, to protect the interests of the University in this matter. I concur. T h e student advisory vote was: Aye, Miss Kooper, M r . Sobotka, M r . Watson; no, none. O n motion of M r . Howard, authority was given as recommended by the following vote: Aye, Dr. Donoghue, M r . Forsyth, M r . H a h n , M r . Howard, M r . Lenz, Mrs. Shepherd, M r . Stone, M r . Velasquez; no, n o n e ; absent, M r . Neal, Governor Thompson. Litigation Initiated by Roger Fontana (28) A complaint has been filed in the Illinois Court of Claims (Case No. 79 CC 0845) against the University by Roger Fontana who is seeking recovery of $10,000 in damages. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff's Samoyed dog died as a result of the negligence of the University while the animal was under anesthesia at the University's Veterinary Clinic on August 24, 1978. T h e university counsel has recommended that he be authorized to take such steps as are necessary or appropriate, including the employment of special counsel, to protect the interests of the University in this matter and to defend the action. I concur.