The University of Georgia in Athens has severed ties with its seventy-year-old fundraising arm, the once powerful University of Georgia Foundation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The decision by the university ends a power struggle between some of its biggest backers and UGA president Michael Adams and members of the state board of regents. The controversy began two years ago when a group of foundation trustees went public with concerns about Adams' spending habits, leadership skills, and salary. Then, three months ago, the board of regents ordered the university to break with the foundation after its trustees failed to meet a deadline for submitting a signed operating agreement. As a result, the foundation will no longer serve as UGA's official fundraising arm #&151; although it will continue to oversee the school's $475 million endowment and receive $250,000 a year to manage daily operations associated with the endowment.

The thirty-member board of the university's new fundraising group, the Arch Foundation, signed off on its bylaws, elected officers, and named directors in June, and, according to Steve Wrigley, UGA senior vice president for external affairs, has raised between $1.5 million and $2 million for the university since the beginning of July.