I think that it might have been cheaper to turn one of the classrooms into a religious observance room instead of losing donors over removing the cross from the chapel:

A major donor to the College of William and Mary is among the college’s alumni who have voiced strong opposition to a decision to remove a cross from permanent display in the university’s Wren Chapel.
In a letter obtained by the Daily Press, former Board of Visitors member James W. McGlothlin wrote another former board member on Feb. 16 that President Gene Nichol’s decision to remove a brass cross in the chapel was “unbelievable.”
“This has been so disturbing to me that I have decided to withhold any future contributions to the College,” he wrote.
He said in the letter that a “very large contribution was in the making” before President Tim Sullivan retired from the college. McGlothlin, of Bristol, Va., is a longtime donor to the College of William and Mary.
Calls to McGlothlin have not yet been returned this morning. It unknown if McGlothlin is the donor who recently rescinded a $12 million pledge to the college of William and Mary over the cross controversy. School officials confirmed Tuesday that such a donation had been revoked.