The basic facts behind Morin’s viral fame are true. He really did work as a librarian for 49 years, he really did amass a fortune of $4 million, and he really did keep that fortune a secret. After Morin found out in 2014 that he had colon cancer, he spent his final months in an assisted-living center. When his fellow librarians came to visit, they fretted he wouldn’t be able to afford the facility.
“I assured them,” says Ed Mullen, Morin’s financial adviser, “that they didn’t need to worry about that.”
Morin’s story didn’t turn shady until the university got involved. UNH administrators learned of the bequest soon after his death on March 31, 2015, and they wasted no time in deciding how to spend it.
The current budget for the video board scope of work is $1 million.”
The scoreboard campaign proceeded on two fronts. The first was construction. By January 2016, UNH had retained a pricey consulting firm that specialized in stadium audio and video; by February, they were reviewing multiple bids. While the bids included at least one cheaper option, the school chose a 30-foot-by-50-foot LED display from Mitsubishi.
That plan received an enthusiastic response, though at least one administrator worried about the optics. By this point, Huddleston had finalized the breakdown of Morin’s money: $1 million to the scoreboard, $2.5 million to UNH’s career center, and $100,000 to the library, with the rest to figure out later. “[T]he gift is so large,” Debbie Dutton, president of the UNH Foundation, wrote in an email, “and he worked in the library and only a relatively small amount is going to the library.”
A solution would soon present itself. In that same March email, Mantz wrote, “I have two people to contact tomorrow (per Theresa) who can tell me more about Mr. Morin.” (The reference was to Theresa Curry, another UNH administrator.) One of those people was Ed Mullen, and one of the things he told Mantz was that Morin had taken to watching football at the assisted-living center.
more
https://deadspin.com/how-unh-turned-a-quiet-benefactor-into-a-football-marke-1819064622
“I assured them,” says Ed Mullen, Morin’s financial adviser, “that they didn’t need to worry about that.”
Morin’s story didn’t turn shady until the university got involved. UNH administrators learned of the bequest soon after his death on March 31, 2015, and they wasted no time in deciding how to spend it.
The current budget for the video board scope of work is $1 million.”
The scoreboard campaign proceeded on two fronts. The first was construction. By January 2016, UNH had retained a pricey consulting firm that specialized in stadium audio and video; by February, they were reviewing multiple bids. While the bids included at least one cheaper option, the school chose a 30-foot-by-50-foot LED display from Mitsubishi.
That plan received an enthusiastic response, though at least one administrator worried about the optics. By this point, Huddleston had finalized the breakdown of Morin’s money: $1 million to the scoreboard, $2.5 million to UNH’s career center, and $100,000 to the library, with the rest to figure out later. “[T]he gift is so large,” Debbie Dutton, president of the UNH Foundation, wrote in an email, “and he worked in the library and only a relatively small amount is going to the library.”
A solution would soon present itself. In that same March email, Mantz wrote, “I have two people to contact tomorrow (per Theresa) who can tell me more about Mr. Morin.” (The reference was to Theresa Curry, another UNH administrator.) One of those people was Ed Mullen, and one of the things he told Mantz was that Morin had taken to watching football at the assisted-living center.
more
https://deadspin.com/how-unh-turned-a-quiet-benefactor-into-a-football-marke-1819064622
