POSTED BY MARTIN KICH
I am sharing this update from Samantha Parsons, who along with her colleague Ralph Wilson and our own John Wilson, made a presentation on their efforts at the annual meeting in June.
I know you’ve been following the court case between students at George Mason University and the school’s fundraising body, the GMU Foundation. Last week, the Fairfax County Circuit Court ruled that the GMU Foundation does NOT have to release their records with the Koch brothers, disappointing students and the public trust in their decision.
But there’s still room to celebrate.
According to the judge, when a donation includes specific restrictions or conditions, those conditions become public record. This affirms student claims that George Mason University has a responsibility to release more documents, and we’re going to hold them to it.
Will you help us put an end to the secrecy?
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George Mason University in Virginia is ground zero for Koch influence in higher education. Students and faculty have worked for years filing records requests, meeting with leadership, and being stalled at every juncture. Enough is enough, and now even the courts agree.
Give the students a signal boost.
Thank you for continuing this fight with us.
Y’all probably know this already, but just in case–
News broke the other day that Ball State University is dragging its collective heel responding to “Papa” John Schnatter’s most recent public exposure as a racist. Buried deep in the local newspaper story about the university’s lack of response is the point that he, along with the Koch Foundation, funded an institute at Ball State that sounds like a junior Mercatus Institute. The newspaper story doesn’t parse who gave how much money, but it establishes the Koch presence at BSU and shows them currently, at best, giving a racist a place to hide.