In a decision that may reverberate across public-university campuses, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that a private foundation that owns college dormitories is entitled to sovereign immunity from lawsuits, just as any other state agency would be.

A lower court in Kentucky had ruled that WKU Student Life Foundation Inc., at Western Kentucky University, could be held liable in a wrongful-death lawsuit because it is a business entity. But the state’s Supreme Court overruled that decision, in an unpublished opinion released last Thursday, saying that the foundation “exists only to serve the university’s needs.”

A number of colleges, in order to cut costs, have built dormitories with private funds in recent years. The universities often establish free-standing foundations that own the buildings. The foundations then sign contracts saying the universities will manage the dorms as part of their lodging options for students. —Martin Van Der Werf