The City University of New York is investigating whether a recent $500,000 gift intended to bolster the humanities and arts at the City College of New York may have been improperly diverted, the New York Times reports.

After senior faculty members at the college learned that the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Fund for the Arts, which should have had roughly $600,000 in it, thanks to a donation of $500,000, had just $76 — and receiving no explanation — they appealed to the university's chancellor, James B. Milliken. Milliken asked the university's general counsel to look into the "expenditures of monies donated" to the fund, which is part of City College's 21^st Century Foundation (21CF). According to the Times, the finances of the foundation as well as those of the college's president and her family are already being investigated by federal prosecutors.

The Times further reports that City College faculty members learned in July — about a month after the donation — that the fund had been depleted. That prompted widespread concern on campus, because "diverse programmatic initiatives, student projects and salaries for some faculty and staff depend upon the Sosnoff Fund." Several faculty members also worried that the money had been spent instead on helping the college close a budget deficit for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Diedra Hill, a spokesperson for the college, did not respond specifically to questions about the donation but issued a statement. "During the past year, the fund was used to support more than a hundred adjunct professors and lecturers in the Division of Humanities and Arts to ensure that students have access to courses they need to successfully pursue their programs of study. Humanities and arts faculty will be meeting this week to review funding priorities for the coming year," she added. "The Sosnoffs are very pleased that their donation is used to offer courses to students to enable them to graduate sooner."

Update: In an email sent to PND after our story was published, Lisa S. Coico, president of City College, said, "There are absolutely no 'missing' funds of any kind. The fact is that the terms of the generous donation to City College, referred to in the article, state that the funds are to be used 'for the arts as determined by the president' of City College, and that is precisely what happened. The donor was consulted, twice, and both times approved how the funds were utilized to support adjunct arts faculty. Any assertion that 'it is unclear who withdrew the money,' as the New York Times article says, is absolute nonsense."