Some Nonprofits Can't Touch Their Money

"Our primary mission is to hold our students harmless," said Martin Dorph, NYU's senior vice president for finance and budget. "As a result, we may have to make choices about other things we may have to eliminate or reduce. By implication, the problem then shifts somewhere else."

That's what happened at Brandeis University, which originally planned to close its Rose Art Museum and sell its more than 7,000 works, including pieces by Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns. After much criticism, the school backed off.