Battle Over Bequest Continues
August 21, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The dispute over Newcomb College, the women’s college shut down by Tulane University two years ago, is continuing after another niece of the college’s benefactor filed a lawsuit yesterday to reopen the school, reports The Times-Picayune.
Susan Henderson Montgomery, of Franklin, Mass. — a great-great-great niece of Josephine Louise Newcomb — is the third niece to contend that Tulane violated the terms of Ms. Newcomb’s gifts. No court date has been set.
Two other nieces filed a petition in May 2006, which went to the Louisiana Supreme Court but has been returned to the Civil District Court. The nieces must establish that they are legitimate heirs of Ms. Newcomb. A group of students and alumni filed a federal suit in March 2006, but it was later thrown out.
Mike Strecker, a Tulane spokesman, said of the latest suit, “Tulane University’s position in this matter has prevailed. We remain confident in our position in this matter.”
