University foundations currently face a more complicated set of demands than in prior years. Fundraising and stewardship remain central, but those responsibilities now sit alongside increased legal and regulatory attention, heightened expectations for governance, greater public scrutiny, and calls for closer alignment with institutional strategy and risk management.

For many foundations, the key issue is not one discrete challenge; it is the overlap of several. Changes in the regulatory environment may coincide with pressure on university budgets, questions about endowment spending, cybersecurity concerns, evolving donor expectations, or sensitive campus concerns and issues of national importance. That convergence makes it important for foundations to think more broadly about governance, preparedness, and coordination.

Before the semester begins, colleges and universities often focus on visible logistics such as move-in, orientation, course schedules, and staffing. Just as important, however, is ensuring that the right people are trained before students and faculty return. Institutions are better positioned when the employees most likely to receive complaints and reports understand their roles, reporting obligations, and institutional policies before the fall term is underway.

Summer is often the most practical time to reduce legal risk on campus. While most students are away and the academic calendar appears quieter, institutional leaders know this is when many of the decisions that shape the upcoming academic year are made. Policies are revised, trainings are scheduled, contracts are renewed, and the fiscal year turns over.

For colleges and universities, enforcement actions brought by federal government agencies, such as the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), or the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), raise a financial threat before any lawsuit is ever filed or before any federal funding is pulled. As the federal government increases its scrutiny of higher education institutions, responding to investigations can require significant expenditures on outside counsel, document production, and compliance efforts. Many colleges and universities may not realize until it is too late that these costs fall outside the scope of their insurance coverage.

In Sabatini v. Knouse, No. SJC-13781 (Mass. May 19, 2026), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that, in the academic context, G. L. c. 214, § 1C permits a sexual harassment claim to proceed directly against an alleged individual perpetrator, not only against an educational institution. Massachusetts law, specifically, G. L. c. 214, § 1C, sets forth the right to be free from sexual harassment in Massachusetts and gives the Superior Court jurisdiction to enforce that right and award damages.