General Discussion

madfloridian

(88,117 posts) Fri Aug 29, 2014, 04:26 PM Aug 2014

Koch brothers influence on Florida State University sets risky precedent.

We have known of the large donation by Charles Koch to FSU's economic department. But the harm done continues with Koch's ability to influence new faculty hires.

From the Alligator Independent News

Koch brothers influence on FSU sets risky precedent

Over the past several years, the Koch brothers and their affiliated groups have donated millions of dollars to a number of American colleges and universities.

Among these donations was a $1.5 million contribution to the Florida State University Department of Economics given by Charles Koch in 2008. The donation included a stipulation that allowed Koch to select members of an advisory committee with veto power over new faculty hires.

News of this arrangement between Koch and the university first surfaced in 2011. However, the Kochs’ relationship with FSU has come under scrutiny during the university’s search for a new president.

Many members of FSU’s presidential search committee have ties to the Koch brothers and to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative policy organization heavily supported by the Kochs.

The leading candidate for the FSU presidency, Sen. John Thrasher, R-Fla., is currently the chairman of Gov. Rick Scott’s re-election campaign. Scott has received immense support from the Koch brothers for his hard-line conservative and pro-corporate stances. Like the Kochs, Thrasher is known as a strong opponent of unions, particularly in the public sector.

More about the Koch donations:

Koch donations not just to Florida State. Branching out to universities around the country.

Under the terms of a 2008 deal with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, FSU's economics department is scheduled to receive $1.5 million over six years to hire professors. But faculty members hired with foundation money must be approved by an advisory committee handpicked by Koch. That means Koch effectively holds veto power, an arrangement rarely found in the academic community and that threatens independent thinking.

FSU, like many colleges and universities throughout Florida, struggles with increasing budgetary constraints. The very fact the university would be willing to forgo its independence in hiring for just $250,000 a year is disturbing, but perhaps should not be unexpected given the continuing cuts in state funding and the state Legislature's limits on tuition. After all, lawmakers have told higher education to be more creative in finding outside support.

One of my favorite Florida columnists covered this in 2011. I can't find the Tampa Bay Times link, but I saved this one.

Koch brothers wage a war on Americans

The latest bombshell is from St. Petersburg Times writer Kris Hundley, who exposed a 2008 agreement between the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and Florida State University for $1.5 million. The money was to fund faculty positions in a new program promoting “political economy and free enterprise.” It came with the unconscionable condition that the foundation’s handpicked advisory committee hold veto power during the hiring process.

Disgraceful, yes, but this is just the newest revelation in what has been a well-reported mission by the Koch brothers to use their vast wealth, estimated at $22 billion each, to alter America’s thinking and turn average people against every government program that makes their lives better and more secure.

If you’re reading “Tea Party” here, you’ve got that right — call them the Kochs’ boots on the ground. But the Koch brothers know that they can’t rely solely on America’s angry, gullible know-nothings to change the national direction. Their ultra-conservatism needs a veneer of intellectual credibility, which is why for decades the brothers have lavished resources on a host of think tanks and academic institutions that are willing to make a case for anything a billionaire without a conscience would want.