The fraud investigation into Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, Feinberg ’82, should serve as a not-too-friendly reminder for Northwestern. Donations to the private University don’t have to be disclosed, but that doesn’t mean the money will always stay under wraps.

In the indictment filed last month, records indicated Mendelsohn donated $250,000 to Feinberg when his son was applying to medical school. With Mendelsohn under intense scrutiny for allegedly exploiting political contributions for personal use, NU should think twice about his donation as well as those from other benefactors.

As long as Mendelsohn’s finances are under investigation, NU should distance itself from any connection to his alleged fraud by giving back the money. The University should want to make clear it is not profiting from illicit behavior. Even a single doubt – not to mention the 32 counts enumerated in his indictment – about Mendelsohn’s money should send a clear message to NU: Don’t get pulled into this mess.

By returning Mendelsohn’s contribution, even years later, NU would demonstrate its commitment to the integrity of its endowment even in a rough financial climate.

We can’t know who gives NU money, how much or why, so it’s up to the University to refuse to be used by anyone who may be pushing an agenda beyond altruism. We are not naïve enough to think fraud and bribery won’t happen; we just don’t want to see NU tangled up in investigations where it has no place.