Holy Cross alum who pledged $25 million — and who has a building named after him — wants his money back

Cornelius B. Prior Jr. pledged millions for the construction of a dazzling new performing arts center at his alma mater.

Upon opening in 2022, the College of the Holy Cross’s $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center was hailed as an “incubator” for creativity and a bastion of interdisciplinary learning.

Behind the scenes, however, a bitter financial dispute was brewing between Holy Cross and the wealthy alumnus who donated his name — and a share of his fortune — to the dazzling new landmark.

Cornelius B. Prior Jr., a 1956 Holy Cross graduate who pledged to donate $25 million for the performing arts center, is now suing the college in an attempt to recover $21 million of contributed funds. That sum includes the $18 million he paid toward the arts center, as well as $3 million he donated for new athletic facilities.

Originally filed in federal court last September, Prior’s complaint alleges that Holy Cross “has refused repeated requests by Mr. Prior to provide a full and detailed accounting for its investment and use of his funds.” The legal dispute was first reported by the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester.

According to his lawsuit, Prior began making a series of conditional donations to Holy Cross in 2012 to prioritize the construction of a performing arts center “without delay.” He alleges the college instead put off the center’s development while also pressuring him to donate more than $3 million to a new athletic complex he didn’t favor.

The performing arts center has been open for two years now, but Prior has refused to make the final payment of his $25 million pledge.

In his complaint, Prior explained that he withheld the last $7 million over lingering questions about how his donations have been spent and whether they were held in a separate account or co-mingled with other funds. The founder of the Beverly-based telecommunications company ATN International asserted that he was also unable to make the additional payment “due to a legally binding hold on transactions in the stock that he would need to transfer in order to make a further gift of that size.”

In response, he alleges Holy Cross “spitefully” and “punitively” cancelled an opening concert at the performing arts center, for which he’d commissioned an original musical composition and drawn up a guest list that included three sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices.

In a subsequent court filing, Prior said it was a “wrenching decision” for him to “call out the College he supported faithfully for so many years.” He accused Holy Cross’s leadership of having “lost sight of basic moral and legal principles to which it is obligated to adhere, especially when it is entrusted with donations expressly targeted to benefit specific College goals and constituents.”

But according to Holy Cross, Prior was the one who broke his promise.

In court filings, the college said Prior’s last installment was due after Holy Cross received a certificate of occupancy for the new arts center. Starting in June 2022, Holy Cross said it made several attempts to remind Prior of his outstanding payment, but Prior allegedly “rejected that outreach and indicated that he did not intend to complete his full pledge.”

When Holy Cross sought to clarify Prior’s timeline for completing his pledge ahead of a formal dedication event, Prior allegedly informed the college via email that he would “pay not one dollar more.” Holy Cross said it opted to postpone the opening concert while it worked to resolve the dispute with Prior.

“Given the parties’ longstanding relationship, the College had not anticipated that Mr. Prior would withhold over $7 million in unpaid pledge amounts and was unsure about holding a formal dedication event for a donor who had indicated that he would not complete his agreed-to pledge,” the college wrote in a court filing.

Holy Cross also argues that its written 2014 agreement with Prior requires mediation and arbitration in the event of a dispute. During a hearing on Aug. 2, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy took Holy Cross’s request to compel mediation and arbitration and stay further court proceedings under advisement. Hennessy also ordered both sides to engage in direct discussions and instructed Holy Cross to provide Prior more detailed accounting information.

“We are disappointed Mr. Prior has not fulfilled his pledge and chosen to continue legal action instead of working to resolve the matter in mediation or arbitration,” Holy Cross Director of Communications John Hill said in a statement. “The College is confident it complied with the terms of the 2014 pledge agreement, which was approved by the College in accordance with its by-laws while Mr. Prior was a member of the Board of Trustees.”

He said Holy Cross remains hopeful the matter can be resolved through mediation or arbitration.

While noting the “multi-million dollar burden left by Mr. Prior’s failure to abide by the express terms of a written pledge agreement,” Hill described the performing arts center as a “catalyst for creativity and learning” on campus and beyond.

The case is due back in court Aug. 30.