The Board of Trustees for Vincennes University brought a case against the State of Indiana to the Supreme Court. The dispute was over whether or not the state had violated its charter by failing to provide funds and resources necessary for running the university. The trustees argued that they were entitled to compensation from the state, as their charter stated that it would be provided with “all needful buildings” and other resources in order to operate properly. However, despite this agreement, no such funding had been given since 1845 when it was first established. In response, Indiana claimed that there was no legal obligation on their part because any money spent on Vincennes University should have come out of local taxes instead of being funded by them directly. Ultimately, after considering both sides' arguments carefully, the court ruled in favor of Vincennes University and ordered Indiana to pay all outstanding debts owed plus interest accrued during this time period.

In the case of Board of Trustees for the Vincennes University v. The State of Indiana, the dissenting opinion argued that although it was true that a contract had been made between Vincennes University and the state in 1816, this contract did not guarantee any particular amount or rate to be paid by Indiana to support said university. Furthermore, they argued that even if such an agreement had been made at one point in time, it could no longer be enforced due to changes in circumstances since then. They also noted that there was no evidence presented which showed how much money should have been paid under this alleged agreement and thus concluded that there was insufficient proof for enforcing such a claim against Indiana. As such, they disagreed with the majority opinion's ruling on behalf of Vincennes University and instead found in favor of Indiana.