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March 29, 2008
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Do your homework
The folks at the NAS were rightly taken by Stanley Kurtz's article--and germinal research plan--on foreign donations to American colleges and universities. And they are doing something about it.
From the NAS site:
We encourage you to send us information you deem relevant, concerning full disclosure of large foreign gifts. We invite you to be attentive to this matter at both your current universities of contact and your own alma mater.Federal Law requires institutions of higher education to report foreign gifts in the amount of $250,000 or higher to the Department of Education. (See U.S. Code Title 20, Section 1011F.) http://vlex.com/vid/19196063. The NAS believes that timely, thorough, and accurate reporting of foreign gifts facilitates transparency in higher education. Complying with the law by publicly reporting large foreign gifts helps allay undue concerns about foreign influence over American higher education. Reporting foreign gifts also alerts the public to those few cases that do raise legitimate concerns about the role of foreign donors in American higher education. In short, public information on foreign gifts facilitates an important debate about the place of American higher education in the world.
The recent release of the Department of Education's records on foreign gifts to American institutions of higher education has given rise to concerns that some colleges and universities may not be reporting large foreign gifts in a timely or thorough fashion. In view of these concerns, the NAS has agreed to act as a clearing house for reports that we believe raise legitimate concerns about the foreign gift reporting practices of particular institutions. The purpose of posting such concerns on this site is to encourage timely and accurate reporting of large foreign gifts. The NAS does not endorse, or claim to have reached any final conclusions, about the specific reports posted here. Our purpose is simply to help those who we feel are raising legitimate questions about gift reporting practices find a public forum.
While we do not endorse the reports we post as part of this project, we will sift submissions and decline to post any that are, on their face, simply rumors or ungrounded accusations. The NAS reserves the right to exercise its own judgment about which reports to post. We are looking for reputable reports based on significant evidence.
The NAS encourages colleges and universities to issue public statements about the accuracy and thoroughness of their foreign gift reporting practices. We are eager to post such statements at this site, particularly such statements as are issued in reply to any concerns about gift reporting practices posted here.
If you know of news reports, stories in college newspapers, or reputable reports by bloggers raising legitimate questions about a given institution’s foreign gift reporting practices, we invite you to e-mail them to nasonweb@nas.org.
If you know of news stories, or have information about large foreign gifts to a particular institution that are not included in the recently released federal data, you are also invited to send that information to our email.
Again, the NAS seeks to provide a forum in which legitimate concerns about foreign gift reporting in higher education can be expressed. We are also eager to provide a forum in which colleges and universities can publicly respond to and allay public concerns. As an organization, the NAS does not specifically endorse or draw any final conclusions about the reports from the public, or the statements from institutions of higher education, posted on this site.
Knowledge is power. It's also the basis for informed debate about issues vital to our country's future. Get involved.
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Comments:
If universities are not disclosing these gifts, then fine, sock it to them.
But it's clear from Mr. Kurtz's past work on this subject that this could all be heading toward a witchhunt against any universities that accept donations from anyone tied to any ideologies *The National Review* doesn't approve of.
As long as the donation doesn't ask the university to break the standards of scholarly rigor, I don't think it should matter where the money comes from. Without money from disreputable men, American cities wouldn't have museums or libraries.
well, when the taxpayers don't want to pay for public colleges, the colleges have to find other sources.
Jason, I agree. I believe that state support for the SUNY system is around 20-30%. So all these people demanding taxpayer oversight should settle for taxpayer oversight of 20-30% of the universities' various activities. Like, maybe the running of the parking lots and gyms and cafeterias.
And anyway, donating money is free speech. If we don't let some Saudi donate money to Yale's Class of 1922 Tea Room, we're really not respecting freedom of speech. But he's not a citizen, so to hell with him.
How many universities accept money from Ayn-Rand-related organizations on the condition that they will teach shoddy philosophy? But she was not a foreigner, so it's OK.
All the workers shot by Pinkertons are really quite happy that their children can go to Carnegie Hall someday.
I think we should also consider these contributions as monuments to diversity, and celebrate them accordingly!
I just know that our friends the Saudis have earmarked a large part of their donations to women's studies programs, especially the benefits of female circumcision!
Actually, Minerva, female genital mutilation is rare in Saudi Arabia. (And, as a practice predating Islam, it crops up among Middle Eastern Christians and Jews.) See:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=60703&d=20&m=3&y=2005
LB:
Did you really say "RARE" in Saudi Arabia? I'm relieved!
Probably rarer than amongst, oh, I dunno, Southern Baptists, right?
But I'm just pleased that most of those Saudi dollars will bolster women's studies departments, for the empowerment of women! It gives me a wonderful warm feeling.
(The fact that Christians and Jews might have once engaged in barbaric practices doesn't justify barbaric practices today. Or was there another purpose to your historical pointer?)
Minerva, I think the truth is that the Saudis have a keen interest in funding women's driving schools, and social justice programs.
From Human Rights Watch
"Pervasive and often invasive monitoring of social life, religious activity, and the dress of women is the responsibility of the government-funded Committees for the Propagation of Virtue . . . Infringements on privacy, pervasive discrimination against women, and the widespread use of capital and corporal punishment, including flogging and amputation, are also major features of Saudi Arabia's human rights record. Religious freedom does not exist . . . Some 121 Saudis and foreigners were beheaded in 2000, following legal proceedings about which little was made public.
Minerva, the point was that female genital mutilation is practiced *today* by Jews and Christians in the Middle East, for it is a regional practice that predates Islam.
TG, you're right that Saudi Arabia is a hotbed of undemocratic activity. Perhaps Bush 2 should have considered military action against them rather than against Iraq? I wonder why he didn't want to liberate the Saudis so much?
But of course, these university donations are not made by nations; they are made by individuals and groups within the nation. I wonder how many groups accepted donations from the US when the nation was segregated and lynching was a common practice?
I wonder if Mr. Kurtz is using technology made in China to keep accounts on these donations from unsavory individuals? Maybe we need a blacklist of all the Americans going to the China Olympics and pumping money into a totalitarian economy?
Again, this is a non-issue unless the money is forcing the university to suspend intellectual inquiry. Like money donated for Western Heritage Foundations and Objectivist Student Groups.
Minerva, the point was that female genital mutilation is practiced *today* by Jews and Christians in the Middle East, for it is a regional practice that predates Islam.
We're getting a bit off-topic here, but I'm unfamiliar with any Jewish community that practices it. Do you have any support for this claim other than a completely unsubstantiated statement in what's not a particularly respected arm of journalism?
And, out of curiosity, which are these universities that "accept money from Ayn-Rand-related organizations on the condition that they will teach shoddy philosophy"?
