Georgia Board Of Regents Suing MCG Foundation

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Board of Regents has filed a lawsuit against a private foundation for continuing to use the Medical College of Georgia’s name more than a year after the campus severed ties with the organization.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Richmond County Superior Court demands that the Medical College of Georgia Foundation Inc. stop using its moniker immediately and cease collecting donations on behalf of the state’s only public medical school. The Augusta-based medical school split from its $152 million foundation in June 2008 after years of feuding between the two institutions.

“The Board of Regents now believes the courts provide the only means of resolving the relationship between MCG and the foundation,“ Regents spokesman John Millsaps wrote in a news release.

Officials with the foundation did not immediately return a request for comment. Medical College spokeswoman Toni Baker declined to comment because of the ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit comes after several requests in the last year by the medical school and the Regents that the foundation change its name to avoid confusion by potential donors. The lawsuit says the foundation briefly changed its names in June of this year but changed it back with no explanation.

It also alleges that the foundation failed for years to properly support the medical school by refusing to give money for projects that board members didn’t like and denying the college’s budget office access to financial records. Such actions has put the college in danger of losing its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, according to the lawsuit.

It also alleges that the foundation is competing directly with the Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation, which the medical school launched last year after severing ties with its old fundraising arm.

The MCG Foundation was founded in 1954 to help raise money for the medical college. It oversaw and managed the growing endowment at the college for decades but began squabbling with its administration in recent years, including refusing a $5 million request to support a new dental school.

“At this time, perhaps more than ever in our history, we need everyone working together. Unfortunately, the Medical College of Georgia Foundation’s priorities are not always aligned with institutional priorities,“ MCG provost Barry Goldstein said last year when the two organizations split. “We need a foundation that shares our vision.“

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On the Net:

Click here to read the Georgia Board of Regents press release

Medical College of Georgia

Medical College of Georgia Foundation