U. will pay $2.4 million in proposed New Era settlement

Organizations that made money through the now bankrupt New Era Philanthropy Foundation will return approximately $39 million to those parties who were severely hurt by the scheme, if all goes as planned with the proposed settlement. The settlement would give financially unstable colleges, universities and other organizations approximately 60 percent of their investments back. According to General Counsel Shelley Green, the University should hear a court decision on the New Era Settlement in the next few weeks. The settlement will require the University to return the net of funds it had invested in New Era. According to Green, that means the University will pay back the profits from its investments, but will not technically be losing any money. Green said the $2.4 million payback will not hurt the University's financial state. She added that all institutions that made money from the New Era plan are subject to the same settlement on net profits. "This is meant to be a netpositive settlement," Green said. Princeton and Harvard will also be required to return money they made from the New Era scheme. University Spokesperson Barbara Beck said the money is being transferred from University schools and centers that had deposited the money or had money deposited in their accounts. "Basically, this money is coming from the schools, rather than from tuition or anything, she explained. "So, it won't affect students." New Era, which was based in Radnor, Pa., promoted itself as an "innovative new charity" capable of doubling non-profit institutions' money by soliciting matching funds from a pool of anonymous wealthy donors, who allegedly relied on the charity to find worthy causes. Now, after the declared bankruptcy, federal investigators say the pool of anonymous donors never existed. New Era's founder, John Bennett, allegedly used money from the institutions that invested later in the program to pay the promised returns to earlier participants. The University of Pennsylvania was one of the earliest institutions to offer money, Green said.

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