Uh, what? Why would that happen, exactly?
Because donations are made for tax purposes and virtue signaling … someone is going to get this money. Many of the donors are alumni and will donate money to the school. It was already targeted to the university athletic departments. It’s not a big stretch for it to be donated to another university department that has a direct academic role.
One of the options is “the donors kids” here. Donating money never leads to more savings than it costs, people donate because they support what they’re donating too. Sports boosters care about sports, not academics.