Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has gone to court to keep Hebrew Union College planted in Cincinnati, filing suit on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, to stop the school from selling its historic campus or shifting donations meant for that site to its other locations. Yost argues that the college would be breaking faith with donors and walking away from a decades-old commitment to keep key rabbinical programs in the Queen City, escalating a long-running fight over the future of the campus, its library, archives and rabbinical training.
According to WKRC Local 12, Yost’s complaint says the school’s board voted to delete a 1950 requirement that Hebrew Union must “permanently maintain” a rabbinical school in Cincinnati and to end residential ordination after the 2025–26 academic year. “Hebrew Union accepted millions of dollars in donations based on a 76-year-old promise it now would like to break,” Yost said in a statement quoted in the filing. The lawsuit also alleges that donations specifically earmarked for Cincinnati programs have been diverted to the college’s campuses in New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.
College Plan And Board Vote
Hebrew Union College’s own strategic planning materials show that the Board of Governors voted to consolidate residential rabbinical education in New York and Los Angeles and to “sunset” the Cincinnati residential program after 2026, according to Hebrew Union College. The documents say the Clifton Avenue campus would be “reimagined” as a research and archives hub built around the Klau Library and the American Jewish Archives, rather than a full residential rabbinical campus.
Background: Fights Over The Klau Library
This is not Yost’s first run-in with the college over its Cincinnati treasures. He previously sought to block a planned sale of rare manuscripts from the Klau Library, asking for a temporary restraining order in June 2024, as reported by The Associated Press. That clash ended in a court-approved deal in October 2025 that requires the college to notify the attorney general before deaccessioning or removing items from the collection, according to WCPO.
Legal Claims And What Is At Stake
The new lawsuit again leans on breach of charitable trust and enforcement of donor restrictions, the same legal theory Yost used when he challenged the proposed rare book sales from the Klau Library, according to JTA. If the court sides with the attorney general, it could force Hebrew Union to stick closely to donor intent and could tighten the rules for how nonprofits transfer restricted gifts between campuses.
What Happens Next
The suit, filed Tuesday, asks the court to block any sale of campus property and to bar transfers of donor-restricted funds out of Cincinnati, according to WKRC Local 12. Hebrew Union has said it remains committed to preserving the Klau Library and its collections while reshaping its educational footprint, and this latest courtroom showdown will determine how far those plans can go under Ohio’s charitable trust rules.
