Boston University quietly signed off on an $800,000 loan to its former president, Robert A. Brown, helping him buy a multimillion-dollar condominium in the city. The arrangement, first reported this morning and visible in the university’s public filings, sits alongside six-figure property loans to two other senior administrators around the time of their departures. Taken together, the disclosures are raising fresh questions about how BU documents and approves loans to its top officials.
What the filings show
The details appear on the Trustees of Boston University’s IRS Form 990. The Schedule L filed by Boston University lists an $800,000 loan to Robert Brown for “purchase of property” with a loan issuance date of September 2022, a $500,000 loan to former provost Jean Morrison issued in July 2023, and a $400,000 loan to Kenneth Lutchen issued in June 2007. The schedule groups those entries under “Loans to and/or From Interested Persons” and shows the amounts on the return’s balance-sheet lines. Those figures are recorded in the university’s public tax filing as required of nonprofits.
How the story surfaced
Boston Business Journal first reported the loans and details about Brown’s condo, which the outlet says cost roughly $2.8 million, and that coverage was republished by NBC Boston. The Business Journal’s reporting highlighted the timing of Brown’s loan in relation to his 2022 retirement announcement. That reporting is what brought the Schedule L entries to wider public attention this morning.
Why the filings matter
Schedule L exists so nonprofits disclose loans or other transactions with insiders, and watchdogs typically read those entries as potential conflict-of-interest disclosures rather than routine bookkeeping. ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer flags the Trustees of Boston University return under “reported conflict of interest transactions,” the same category that captures loans to officials. That framework is why the filings are being treated as a governance story as much as a real-estate one.
What BU says in its filings
Boston University’s Schedule O, filed with the return, outlines an internal review process in which drafts of the Form 990 are reviewed by university finance staff, the school’s external auditor and the audit committee before the full board reviews the final return. The filing also describes a conflict-of-interest disclosure and recusal policy for trustees and senior officers, which the university says is used when transactions are voted on. That language appears in the same public IRS filing that lists the loans.
What’s next
The disclosures are likely to prompt questions from faculty, donors and governance observers about whether loans to senior leaders are standard practice and whether any balances remain outstanding. For now the public record is the Form 990 and the Business Journal’s reporting, and we will update this story if the university or trustees issue a statement or provide additional details. Boston Business Journal’s original coverage can be read via the republished item on NBC Boston.
