Rumors say Ovitz cancelling pledge

By Sophia Chakos-Leiby
Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA officials denied statements recently published by the New
York Post that entertainment industry mogul Michael Ovitz ““
who pledged $25 million for the rebuilding of UCLA’s Medical
Center in 1997 ““ may back down from completing payments.

“A high-ranking UCLA source told the Post before Christmas
that the university was frustrated by Ovitz’s delays and now
despaired of ever being fully paid, but made a decision not to go
public with the news of Ovitz’s unfulfilled
obligation,” said the Jan. 25 Post article.

Ovitz’s publicist, Mike Burns, said the pledge is not
supposed to be fulfilled until 2007.

In a statement issued by Chancellor Albert Carnesale over the
weekend, the chancellor said he does not think Ovitz will back out
of his pledge.

“This gift, like most major gifts, is to be paid over a
period of years, and I have every confidence that Michael will live
up to his commitment,” Carnesale stated.

He also stated that he could not specify the amount Ovitz has
paid, citing university policy that prohibits the discussion of the
status of gifts or pledges.

Ovitz’s $25 million donation constitutes about 1.9 percent
of the Medical Center project’s total cost, which reaches
about $1.3 billion.

Medical Center finance director Sergio Melgar said he was
unaware of the Post article, and he assumes Ovitz will continue
with payments.

“I have been working on the project, and throughout all
the financing, we’ve not had one specific discussion ““
positive or negative ““ on the impact of Ovitz,” Melgar
said, adding that Ovitz is fulfilling the pledge through a series
of smaller payments.

Donations of over $500,000 are generally paid over a period of
time, Burns said.

“This is how large donations are made to
institutions,” he said.

According to Michael Karpf, director of the Medical Center, UCLA
does not have a standard policy for how a donor must make payments,
so each deadline is decided on an individual basis.