Lafayette College Rejects $140,000 Bequest Because of Discrimination Requirements

The trustees of Lafayette College at Easton, Pa., yesterday rejected a $140,000 bequest because its donor specified that if any of the income from the fund were used for scholarship purposes Jews and Catholics must be barred from receiving such grants. The action of the board of trustees reversed an earlier decision of the college authorities to accept the legacy.

The money was left by Frederick F.T. Dumont, an alumnus of the college and a former member of the United States diplomatic service, who died ten years ago. The terms of his will became known last week when a court in Lancaster, Pa., home of the late Mr. Dumont, distributed the first income from the bequest to the college.

At that time, David Skillman, attorney for the college, said that Lafayette would accept the gift although it did not like “strings that smack of religious discrimination.” He said that refusal to accept the money “would be depriving other boys of the benefits.” Later, college president Ralph C. Hutchison said that the money would not be used for scholarships but would be placed in the school’s general endowment fund.

The trustees’ statement rejecting the $140,000 dismissed the fact that the money was to have been assigned to the endowment fund and emphasized that the legacy contained “an inoperative clause discriminating against Jews and Catholics.” Such discrimination, the statement pointed out, is “contrary to the history, practice and ideals of Lafayette College.”