The Lord Giveth

There’s a story from AP on the International Herald Tribune Web site stating that, “The University of Haifa announced on Monday that it has returned a $75,000 donation that it received in 2002 from David Radler, the former deputy of accused corporate swindler Conrad Black, because of his conviction on fraud charges.”

The article goes on to say Israeli media are reporting that some of the money was misappropriated from the Jerusalem Post’s charity funds. A year and a half ago, Queen’s University gave back a $1-million donation from Radler. This raises the specter of Black’s recent half-million-dollar gift to the COC—a donation that was part of a dispute between Black and the court in Chicago—one that, in turn, led to his current $12,000-a-month allowance. All of which leaves us to wonder, if Black is convicted, will opera buffs be as prone to crises of conscience as academics?