...William Robertson maintains his parents, Charles and Marie Robertson, heirs to the A&P grocery fortune, gave $35 million in stock to Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs expressly to train to students to work for the U.S. government. He claims Princeton hasn't lived up to its end of the deal, and he wants to be able to spend the foundation's money elsewhere for its intended purpose.

...The unusual circumstances at Princeton include not only the big financial stakes but a long, steady build-up of acrimony that has prevented a settlement and made Robertson willing to spend millions suing his alma mater.

Still, trends among both universities and donors suggest other conflicts are likely — no matter how carefully agreements are written...