Michael and Marian Ilitch's $40 million gift to Wayne State University to build a new business school in downtown Detroit has come under scrutiny over provisions in the donor agreement, Inside Higher Ed reports.

Announced last October, the gift from the Ilitches' family foundation includes $35 million toward construction of a facility for the business school — to be named the Mike Ilitch School of Business — and $5 million to establish an endowment. Obtained by the Detroit Free Press and local blog Motor City Muckraker, the donation agreement also gives the Ilitches and their foundation the right to consult on the business school's curriculum, its strategic plan, and "other aspects of the educational experience." The scope of such consultation  includes the possibility of courses on food, hospitality, sports, entertainment, and events management — sectors in which the Ilitches own businesses — even as it states that "[Wayne State] will have the sole right to determine the curriculum for the Business School."

The agreement further stipulates that Wayne State compensate the business school's dean and senior staff at levels consistent with positions of similar standing and spend at least $100,000 a year for ten years on promoting the school. Under another provision in the agreement, the university will lease the land the business school stands on for $1 a year under a thirty-five-year lease that can be extended to a maximum of ninety-five years, while paying all taxes and maintenance charges. The Ilitch family has business interests in a development company involved in a major revitalization of the area near the business school, including a new arena for the Detroit Red Wings.

"There are academic concerns that are being raised," Charles Parrish, a professor of political science at Wayne State and the president of the faculty and academic staff union, told Inside Higher Ed. "If you start...[having] some faculty members being told they have to change their areas of research from supply chain management to how you run a good conference center for sports medicine, it's a problem."

Wayne State University Foundation president Susan E. Burns defended the agreement, saying it neither infringed on academic freedom nor locked the business school into paying its dean more than it currently does. "This really has to do with making sure we're keeping the lines of communication open — the ultimate control over decisions does remain with the university," said Burns. "There is going to be an ongoing relationship, letting the donor know what is happening. They have incredible expertise in the world of business. We certainly want to listen to them, in particular in areas where they have the greatest expertise."