POSTED BY MARTIN KICH What follows are the opening paragraphs of a news report for the Associated Press written by Matthew Barakat: Virginia’s largest public university granted the conservative Charles Koch Foundation a say in the hiring and firing of professors in exchange for millions of dollars in donations, according to newly released documents. The…
BY SAMANTHA PARSONS This is a guest post by Samantha Parsons, a graduate of George Mason University and co-founder of Transparent GMU. She is now a Grassroots Campaign Strategist at UnKoch My Campus. On February 9th, George Mason University students filed a lawsuit against their school and its fundraising arm, the George Mason University Foundation,…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH This is the latest report from UnKoch My Campus. Although it does not entirely align with other recent discussions of this topic posted to this blog, I think that it contributes some new elements and details to that discussion: In the past month, state lawmakers across the country coordinated an…
BY MARTHA T. McCLUSKEY This is a guest post by Martha T. McCluskey, a professor of law and William J. Magavern Faculty Scholar at the University of Buffalo. Her e-mail address is mcclusk@buffalo.edu. The views in this blog and related article do not represent any institution or group. As public funding for higher education has…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Writing for AlterNet, Alex Kotch explains in great detail “Charles Koch’s Six-Step Guide to Founding a Free-Market Center at Your University.” The article is based on recordings made at a Koch-sponsored conference. Here is a substantial portion of the introductory section of Kotch’s article: “Since 1980, the family foundations of billionaire…
This is a letter written by George Mason sophomore Mark Hammond to the George Mason student newspaper, The Fourth Estate. For some reason, that newspaper never published it on its website; so he has given permission to Connor Gibson, a co-founder of the group Un-Koch My Campus, to disseminate it. _________________________ “Last fall, when…
The following is the text of a letter sent today by AAUP Associate Secretary Anita Levy to Dr. Ángel Cabrera, President of George Mason University, and Mr. G. Gilmer Minor III, Chair, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia: Dear President Cabrera and Chair Minor: Members of the faculty at George Mason University have advised…
BY HANK REICHMAN This blog has in the past posted several items concerning the efforts by the notorious conservative Charles Koch Foundation to influence curriculum and even hiring at institutions of higher education. Early last month I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion of the issue at the annual higher education conference…
BY CONNOR GIBSON New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer’s new book Dark Money includes details that bolster concerns publicized by UnKoch My Campus, and students and professors across the United States who have blown the whistle on Charles Koch’s cooptation of higher education programs. Universities are at the heart of Charles Koch’s lobbying model, which after…
First Item: Nation of Change has published a very succinct overview of the Koch family’s various foundations, an article that includes links to further and fuller information on each of the entities. Written by Dave Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity, the article is available at: http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/10/31/the-koch-brothers-foundation-network-explained/. Second Item: A website called Inspiration…