Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 73, § 14

The trustees shall administer property held in accordance with special trusts, and shall also administer grants or devises of land and gifts or bequests of personal property made to the commonwealth for the use of a state university, and execute said trusts, investing the proceeds thereof in notes or bonds secured by sufficient mortgages or other securities. The trustees shall have the authority to assent to federal laws designed to benefit the state universities and to enter into agreements or contracts with the federal government or agencies thereof, as well as into agreements or contracts with agencies of other governments, other colleges and universities, foundations, corporations, interstate compact agencies and individuals where such agreements or contracts, in the judgment of the trustees, will promote the objectives of the state universities. The trustees may, from time to time, establish and manage trust funds for self-amortizing projects and self-supporting activities including, but not limited to, the operation of the boarding halls, student health service, research institutes and foundations, dormitories and student and faculty apartments. All income received from such projects or activities shall be held in trust by the trustees and expended for the purpose for which the trust fund was established. The trustees may, for the purposes of this section, group together several or more projects and activities into one or more funds as is, in their judgment, required to best effectuate the purposes of the projects and activities and the purposes of the state universities. Any unrestricted balances remaining in a trust fund upon its termination shall be used as directed by the trustees for the general purposes of the state universities.