Halfway through a private brunch Saturday, as Connecticut’s biggest donors finished their all-you-can-eat French toast and sausages, the university’s president, Susan Herbst, put down her glass and made her way to the center of the room.
She stood before a group of supporters who had given millions of dollars to the university, including Robert Skinner, one of the backers of a $40 million basketball practice complex project. At 11:30 a.m., some were wearing sport coats, and others were clad in blue
UConn gear. The university had arranged for many of them and their families to fly in on chartered planes, given them hotel rooms and provided them with some of the best seats in AT&T Stadium for the Final Four of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament.
