Is it legal for a college or university to accept a donation given with conditions on how it is to be spent, but then turn around and spend it on something else? A growing number of people who have made sizeable donations over the years to many of America’s most famous universities are beginning to ask that same question.

Now a New Jersey court has granted a day in court to the children of a couple who made a substantial donation to Princeton University years ago for the purpose of training graduates for jobs in government are demanding return of more than $200 million they say the school used for other purposes.