Up and Dot Gone

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"We understood that this might be too good to be true," says Peter Turchi, director of the fine arts program at North Carolina's Warren Wilson College, where Desai agreed to a $150,000 gift but didn't fill out the paperwork. At the University of Florida, Desai promised a seven-figure contribution that also was never formalized.

In January, Desai talked to Harvard about a possible donation to the English department. "But it just didn't strike any of us as the right time," he says. So no chairs for his alma mater, although Desai may have taught college fund raisers a thing or two about irrational exuberance. "Next time the university is approached by an unknown donor," says Washington's Arkans, "this will make us a little more cautious."