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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bass Family Gives After Taking Away From Yale

Associated Press

A member of the billionaire Bass family of Texas is donating $20 million to Yale University, one year after his brother withdrew the same amount in a dispute with the school.

The new donation from Robert M. Bass, a 1971 Yale graduate will help renovate the Ivy League school’s aging residential colleges, where most undergraduates live.

The gift was announced Friday.

Lee M. Bass, a 1979 alumnus, donated $20 million in 1991 to establish a program in Western civilization, but Yale returned the sum last year. Bass complained that the university kept him in the dark about what was happening with the program, which was never set up.

The program was delayed in part after students protested that Yale instead needed more courses on women, minorities and non-European cultures.

Members of the Bass family, which made a fortune in oil, real estate and other investments, have donated a total of $80 million to their alma mater.