LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — One of UNLV's biggest donors is now pulling their funding.
This week, the Engelstad Foundation announced they will no longer support any initiatives or projects for UNLV beyond the existing Engelstad Foundation Scholar Program.
In a letter to the school, CEO Kris Engelstad wrote the decision was made due to the "university's history of adversarial behavior". She writes it has "morphed over the years but never dissipated".
According to Engelstad, there was been friction with several past UNLV presidents and that she feels the foundation can "no longer support an institution that does not align with not only our values and beliefs, but the values of the community."
You can read the full letter below.
Engelstad Foundation letter to UNLV by jarah.wright on Scribd
In a statement, UNLV officials said they have been in negotiations with the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation "in good faith to reach an agreement that is acceptable to all sides."
It goes on to read "We are disappointed by the announcement by the Engelstad Foundation but disagree with the characterization of facts from what has been a difficult negotiation."
University officials said they are grateful to the foundation for their contributions over the years.
Those contributions included over $40 million. Some of that money was used to help fund the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine.
According to UNLV's website, the Engelstad Foundation gave an endowment of more than $12.5 million to UNLV in 2009 to help students pay for college. At the time, the gift was the largest active scholarship in the university's history and the largest endowment in the history of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
The school says about 325 students have been funded through that program.
