NDNU donor frustrated with Belmont university’s refund process

NDNU spokeswoman Karen Schornstein said in an email responses from donors are being received every day since the aforementioned letters were mailed. 

“Every request for a new intention for the gift, either redirect or a refund check, is being processed and honored,” she said, adding that the process can take up to a month after a request is received.

For Ron Nahas, who donated to the renovation, the process has taken much longer than that. He said he never received such a letter from the university and has been trying to get a refund since March, which was not long after he found out the project is at a standstill. Letters and calls to several university officials were not answered for more than six months, he said. 

“I feel terribly taken advantage of,” he said last week before he was finally able to reach university President Judith Greig. In an email, Greig said the letter sent to all donors was also mailed to Nahas in September and since he didn’t receive it, a second one is on the way.

Nahas contributed the money through his charitable Payette River Foundation in three installments beginning in 2015 and ending in 2018. The money was supposed to be matched by Taube Philanthropies, which made a pledge — and not a donation — that it has since rescinded because the project is on hold.

The renovation of the 151-year-old mansion, which is located on NDNU’s Belmont campus, entailed a full seismic upgrade as well as improvements to expand university programming and ADA accessibility.

About $20 million was raised for the project, but then it hit a dead end when two “key donors” backed out, Greig said in the past, adding that at least one of those donors withdrew their contribution because of the university’s enrollment and financial challenges.

Greig also said the Board of Trustees may revisit the project in 2021 and that there has been some discussion about reducing the scope of the project, but no decisions have been made.

Built in 1868, Ralston Hall became the home of the College of Notre Dame in 1923 and eventually housed the university’s administrative offices until its closure in 2012. Over the years, the campus grew around Ralston Hall while it served as a community asset with an estimated nearly 40,000 people using the grand ballroom and facilities for events such as weddings, conferences, dinners, operas, musicals and more.

The building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a California Historical Landmark. 

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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