Ohio Attorney General David Yost has filed suit in an Ohio state trial court seeking to prevent Hebrew Union College (HUC) from closing its 150-year-old Cincinnati rabbinical school. The closure is planned for the end of the 2025-26 academic year. In 1950, when HUC (originally formed as a charitable trust) consolidated with the New York based Jewish Institute of Religion, the Consolidation Agreement provided that the consolidated non-profit corporation would maintain rabbinical schools in both Cincinnati and New York. The complaint (full text) in Yost v. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, (OH Com. Pl, filed 4/10/2026), alleges unjust enrichment and breaches of fiduciary duty. It seeks reformation of the charitable trust to fulfill the promise of maintaining a rabbinical school in Cincinnati. The complaint alleges in part:
[A] significant number and monetary amount of the donations made to the College prior to April 2022 were made due, in whole or in part, to the College's commitment to a permanent rabbinical school in Cincinnati...
The College has a duty, among others, to hold and administer assets in accordance with the intentions of donors....
Relief requested in the complaint includes requiring assets held or given in Ohio be used to support a permanent school in the Cincinnati area for research, education and preparation of rabbis and leaders of Reform Judaism.
Attorney General Yost issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. The press release points out that previous litigation resulted in a settlement to protect the College's rare book collection.