Florida Atlantic University’s president, Frank T. Brogan, took a $7,362 cruise in late 2005 as a gift from Barry Kaye, a Florida insurance executive who has given $17-million to the university, according to the Sun-Sentinel, a newspaper in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

University officials say that Mr. Brogan took the cruise to cultivate his relationship with Mr. Kaye and that accepting the gift did not violate state or university ethics rules. Mr. Kaye donated about $11-million to the university after the cruise. But Mr. Brogan has been criticized for accepting the perk from Mr. Kaye, who has been scrutinized for a proposed plan to do business with Florida Atlantic on a life-insurance program that could be a fund-raising tool for the university.

The December 2005 cruise was a weeklong trip to celebrate the university’s having awarded Mr. Kaye, an alumnus, an honorary doctorate. Mr. Brogan and his wife stayed in a 491-square-foot penthouse suite on the ship, the Crystal Symphony, and enjoyed the use of a private veranda, a butler, and a whirlpool bath, the newspaper reported. —Paul Fain