Judge Rejects Renaming College After Billionaire's Wife's Donation

A New York judge denied a college's petition to add the wife of a Wall Street billionaire to its name, citing the will of the founding donor.

Paul Smith's College President Cathy Dove announced the ruling on the Adirondack college's website Wednesday.

The college's board of trustees voted over the summer to rename the college Joan Weill-Paul Smith's College in exchange for a $20 million donation from Weill, wife of Sanford Weill, the former CEO of Citigroup.

The college was established by the will of J. Phelps Smith. He stipulated the college be "forever known as Paul Smith's College of Arts and Sciences" to honor his father, who ran a hotel on the lakeside college's site in the 19th century.