6/28/2011: The Koch Foundation’s academic grants – which come with many strings – are in the news again, Dan Berrett has an excellent piece in Insidehighered.comhttp://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/06/28: It concludes with this:
The best way to safeguard a university’s interests and commitment to academic freedom is to be clear about expectations up front, said Rae Goldsmith, vice president for advancement resources at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. “The gift agreement is in many ways like a prenuptial agreement,” she said. “All issues of institutional and donor control should be laid on the table. In this case, prevention is the best medicine.”
I’ve asked UO Spokesperson Phil Weiler for a copy of the agreement that UO President Lariviere and “President” Ali Bongo of Gabon signed. Phil says he doesn’t have it. So I asked Prof Dennis Galvan – who negotiated it. He’s not answering my emails. Nice start.
To be fair, Dr. Galvan has never been good at replying to emails. Nonetheless, it’s becoming quite the trend that UO has some sort of contract-hole where lost paperwork goes to gather.