Levinthal writes: "The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a previously
unpublished audio recording of a meeting that focused on the Kochs' higher
education funding strategy."
Protest against the Koch brothers. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty)
Koch Brothers Pour Millions Into Education to Promote Conservative Ideals
By Dave Levinthal, Al Jazeera America
30 October 15
Koch funding to higher education institutes part of broader campaign to push
free-market principles
Last summer, a top lieutenant of Charles and David Koch's vast network of
philanthropic institutions, laid bare the billionaire brothers' strategy to
evangelize their gospel of economic freedom.
Political success, Kevin Gentry told a crowd of elite supporters attending
the annual Koch confab in Dana Point, Calif., begins with reaching young
minds in college lecture halls, thereby preparing bright,
libertarian-leaning students to one day occupy the halls of political power.
"The [Koch] network is fully integrated, so it's not just work at the
universities with the students, but it's also building state-based
capabilities and election capabilities and integrating this talent
pipeline," he said.
"So you can see how this is useful to each other over time," he continued.
"No one else has this infrastructure. We're very excited about doing it."
The Center for Public Integrity obtained a previously unpublished audio
recording of the meeting, which focused on the Kochs' higher education
funding strategy, from liberal activists who produce The Undercurrent, an
online video program.
Higher education has become a top Koch priority in recent years. And their
funding - as well as pushback against it - is increasing.
During 2013, a pair of private charitable foundations Charles Koch leads and
personally bankrolls combined to spread more than $19.3 million across 210
college campuses in 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to a
Center for Public Integrity analysis of Internal Revenue Service tax
filings.
That represents a significant increase from the $12.7 million the Koch
foundations distributed among 163 college campuses in 41 states and the
District of Columbia during 2012. It's also exponentially more than what the
Koch foundations together spent directly on higher education a decade ago.
The Center for Public Integrity reviewed hundreds of private documents,
emails and audio recordings that, along with interviews with more than 75
college officials, professors, students and others, indicate the Koch
brothers' spending on higher education is now a critical part of their
broader campaign to infuse politics and government with free-market
principles.
The Charles Koch Foundation executives declined to be interviewed
individually. Trice Jacobson, a foundation spokesperson, instead provided a
statement that she said "captures what we all hope to share for this piece."
"Like many charities, the Charles Koch Foundation recognizes the importance
of supporting a diversity of ideas so scholars and students can continue to
push the frontiers of knowledge and help people discover new and better ways
to live fulfilling lives," the statement read. "Our giving has expanded to
support new research and programs on critical issues ranging from criminal
justice reform to corporate welfare."
In a separate statement of its "academic giving principles," the Charles
Koch Foundation asserts that it is "committed to advancing a marketplace of
ideas and supporting a 'Republic of Science' where scholarship is free, open
and subject to rigorous and honest intellectual challenge."
It also notes that scholars and students "who are free to teach, learn,
research, speak, critique and receive support for their work without
interference" are in the "best position to discover the advances that will
help improve well-being.
Free-market gospel
It is no secret that the Kochs' network has invested hundreds of millions of
hard-to-track dollars in conservative political nonprofits that influence
elections. The brothers, who earned their billions leading private oil,
chemical and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries Inc., were dominant
forces in recent election cycles. They're now poised to rank among the most
influential Americans shaping next year's presidential and congressional
vote.
Much less well known: their activities on college campuses.
The Kochs are among many wealthy political patrons who give money to
education, along with conservative Robert McNair, independent Michael
Bloomberg and liberal billionaire financier George Soros. (The Center for
Public Integrity receives funding from the Open Society Foundations, which
Soros funds. A complete list of Center for Public Integrity funders is found
here.)
The Kochs' giving, however, has a laser-like focus on a specific,
politically relevant discipline - free market economics - unmatched by other
political mega-donors. Koch officials routinely cultivate relationships with
professors and deans and fund specific courses of economic study pitched by
them.
Detractors argue the Koch brothers' college-focused money, by helping
advance a philosophy of economic liberty, is eroding a fundamental aspect of
higher education: academic freedom.
But some conservatives and libertarians consider the Kochs' investments in
higher education a much-needed counterweight to an American higher education
system that historically tilts leftward.
And they explain the Kochs' decision to influence education most certainly
does not spring, as many liberal partisans would like the body politic to
believe, from the compulsions of steel-souled industrialists more concerned
about fortune and power than, say, protecting the environment or helping the
poor.
"Since the '60s, they've been imbued with the sense that the world would be
a better place if the country instituted their libertarian values," author
Brian Doherty said of the brothers.
"For Charles, his time horizon, as he gets a little older, has become a
little shorter. He has lots of money, and he wants to see action in his
lifetime," continued Doherty, the author of "Radicals for Capitalism: A
Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement" and senior
editor at Reason who's interviewed both Koch brothers.
"I'm not doing anything I'm ashamed of," Charles Koch himself told Forbes
last month. "You've got to change the hearts and minds of the people to
understand what really makes society fairer and what's going to change their
lives. And it's not more of this government control."
Tax returns, as well as emails and private documents exchanged among Charles
Koch Foundation officers and various college and university officials,
indicate the foundation's commitment to funding academics is deep and
growing. Koch education funding, which is almost singularly focused on
economics, also sometimes comes with certain strings attached.
Recruiting new believers
At the College of Charleston in South Carolina, for example, documents show
the foundation wanted more than just academic excellence for its money. It
wanted information about students it could potentially use for its own
benefit - and influence over information officials at the public university
disseminated about the Charles Koch Foundation.
It sought, for one, the names and email addresses - "preferably not ending
in .edu" - of any student who participated in a Koch-sponsored class,
reading group, club or fellowship. The stated purpose: "to notify students
of opportunities" through both the Charles Koch Foundation and the Institute
for Humane Studies at George Mason University.
And the foundation certainly did not want the College of Charleston to speak
to news reporters about its Koch-funded programs without prior consent from
the Charles Koch Foundation.
"[I]f you intend to engage in press releases or other media outreach
associated with programmatic activities, please notify us in advance,"
Charles Koch Foundation officials Charlie Ruger and Derek Johnson wrote
Peter Calcagno, director of the College of Charleston's Center for Public
Choice and Market Process. "We consider media outreach a collaborative
effort and would appreciate the opportunity to both assist and advise."
Some universities are facing blowback over scant information about school
donors from increasingly organized anti-Koch groups and activists.
The umbrella group UnKoch My Campus, for one, has staged protests, demanded
meetings with administrators and launched chapters at George Mason
University and Florida State University, among others. The organization
accuses the Kochs and their allies of undermining issues many students care
about, such as environmental protection, workers' rights, healthcare
expansion and public education.
Its immediate goal, beyond convincing colleges to de-Koch themselves?
"Transparency, because students should have the capability to be more aware
of who's funding their school and their education, and where funding might
conflict with student interests," said Kalin Jordan, an UnKoch My Campus
organizer. "The universities - most don't do a good job of informing
students at all."
Said Colin Nackerman, a student activist at George Mason University: "You
should know, if you're going into a classroom, that $30 million is going
into your school from someone who wants you to think a certain way."
Largely silent in the past, the Charles Koch Foundation has begun to push
back at such dissenters.
"They don't want students and scholars to expand their educational
horizons," Hardin, the foundation's university relations director, wrote in
a May 26 Wall Street Journal op-ed. "Rather than engage in a vigorous and
civil debate about the merits of different ideas, they seek to prevent those
with which they disagree from ever being heard."
For a more in-depth look into Koch funding into higher education, click
here.
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Protest against the Koch brothers. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty)
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/10/30/koch-foundations-invest-in-
higher-education.htmlhttp://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/10/30/koch-f
oundations-invest-in-higher-education.html
Koch Brothers Pour Millions Into Education to Promote Conservative Ideals
By Dave Levinthal, Al Jazeera America
30 October 15
Koch funding to higher education institutes part of broader campaign to push
free-market principles
ast summer, a top lieutenant of Charles and David Koch's vast network of
philanthropic institutions, laid bare the billionaire brothers' strategy to
evangelize their gospel of economic freedom.
Political success, Kevin Gentry told a crowd of elite supporters attending
the annual Koch confab in Dana Point, Calif., begins with reaching young
minds in college lecture halls, thereby preparing bright,
libertarian-leaning students to one day occupy the halls of political power.
"The [Koch] network is fully integrated, so it's not just work at the
universities with the students, but it's also building state-based
capabilities and election capabilities and integrating this talent
pipeline," he said.
"So you can see how this is useful to each other over time," he continued.
"No one else has this infrastructure. We're very excited about doing it."
The Center for Public Integrity obtained a previously unpublished audio
recording of the meeting, which focused on the Kochs' higher education
funding strategy, from liberal activists who produce The Undercurrent, an
online video program.
Higher education has become a top Koch priority in recent years. And their
funding - as well as pushback against it - is increasing.
During 2013, a pair of private charitable foundations Charles Koch leads and
personally bankrolls combined to spread more than $19.3 million across 210
college campuses in 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to a
Center for Public Integrity analysis of Internal Revenue Service tax
filings.
That represents a significant increase from the $12.7 million the Koch
foundations distributed among 163 college campuses in 41 states and the
District of Columbia during 2012. It's also exponentially more than what the
Koch foundations together spent directly on higher education a decade ago.
The Center for Public Integrity reviewed hundreds of private documents,
emails and audio recordings that, along with interviews with more than 75
college officials, professors, students and others, indicate the Koch
brothers' spending on higher education is now a critical part of their
broader campaign to infuse politics and government with free-market
principles.
The Charles Koch Foundation executives declined to be interviewed
individually. Trice Jacobson, a foundation spokesperson, instead provided a
statement that she said "captures what we all hope to share for this piece."
"Like many charities, the Charles Koch Foundation recognizes the importance
of supporting a diversity of ideas so scholars and students can continue to
push the frontiers of knowledge and help people discover new and better ways
to live fulfilling lives," the statement read. "Our giving has expanded to
support new research and programs on critical issues ranging from criminal
justice reform to corporate welfare."
In a separate statement of its "academic giving principles," the Charles
Koch Foundation asserts that it is "committed to advancing a marketplace of
ideas and supporting a 'Republic of Science' where scholarship is free, open
and subject to rigorous and honest intellectual challenge."
It also notes that scholars and students "who are free to teach, learn,
research, speak, critique and receive support for their work without
interference" are in the "best position to discover the advances that will
help improve well-being.
Free-market gospel
It is no secret that the Kochs' network has invested hundreds of millions of
hard-to-track dollars in conservative political nonprofits that influence
elections. The brothers, who earned their billions leading private oil,
chemical and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries Inc., were dominant
forces in recent election cycles. They're now poised to rank among the most
influential Americans shaping next year's presidential and congressional
vote.
Much less well known: their activities on college campuses.
The Kochs are among many wealthy political patrons who give money to
education, along with conservative Robert McNair, independent Michael
Bloomberg and liberal billionaire financier George Soros. (The Center for
Public Integrity receives funding from the Open Society Foundations, which
Soros funds. A complete list of Center for Public Integrity funders is found
here.)
The Kochs' giving, however, has a laser-like focus on a specific,
politically relevant discipline - free market economics - unmatched by other
political mega-donors. Koch officials routinely cultivate relationships with
professors and deans and fund specific courses of economic study pitched by
them.
Detractors argue the Koch brothers' college-focused money, by helping
advance a philosophy of economic liberty, is eroding a fundamental aspect of
higher education: academic freedom.
But some conservatives and libertarians consider the Kochs' investments in
higher education a much-needed counterweight to an American higher education
system that historically tilts leftward.
And they explain the Kochs' decision to influence education most certainly
does not spring, as many liberal partisans would like the body politic to
believe, from the compulsions of steel-souled industrialists more concerned
about fortune and power than, say, protecting the environment or helping the
poor.
"Since the '60s, they've been imbued with the sense that the world would be
a better place if the country instituted their libertarian values," author
Brian Doherty said of the brothers.
"For Charles, his time horizon, as he gets a little older, has become a
little shorter. He has lots of money, and he wants to see action in his
lifetime," continued Doherty, the author of "Radicals for Capitalism: A
Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement" and senior
editor at Reason who's interviewed both Koch brothers.
"I'm not doing anything I'm ashamed of," Charles Koch himself told Forbes
last month. "You've got to change the hearts and minds of the people to
understand what really makes society fairer and what's going to change their
lives. And it's not more of this government control."
Tax returns, as well as emails and private documents exchanged among Charles
Koch Foundation officers and various college and university officials,
indicate the foundation's commitment to funding academics is deep and
growing. Koch education funding, which is almost singularly focused on
economics, also sometimes comes with certain strings attached.
Recruiting new believers
At the College of Charleston in South Carolina, for example, documents show
the foundation wanted more than just academic excellence for its money. It
wanted information about students it could potentially use for its own
benefit - and influence over information officials at the public university
disseminated about the Charles Koch Foundation.
It sought, for one, the names and email addresses - "preferably not ending
in .edu" - of any student who participated in a Koch-sponsored class,
reading group, club or fellowship. The stated purpose: "to notify students
of opportunities" through both the Charles Koch Foundation and the Institute
for Humane Studies at George Mason University.
And the foundation certainly did not want the College of Charleston to speak
to news reporters about its Koch-funded programs without prior consent from
the Charles Koch Foundation.
"[I]f you intend to engage in press releases or other media outreach
associated with programmatic activities, please notify us in advance,"
Charles Koch Foundation officials Charlie Ruger and Derek Johnson wrote
Peter Calcagno, director of the College of Charleston's Center for Public
Choice and Market Process. "We consider media outreach a collaborative
effort and would appreciate the opportunity to both assist and advise."
Some universities are facing blowback over scant information about school
donors from increasingly organized anti-Koch groups and activists.
The umbrella group UnKoch My Campus, for one, has staged protests, demanded
meetings with administrators and launched chapters at George Mason
University and Florida State University, among others. The organization
accuses the Kochs and their allies of undermining issues many students care
about, such as environmental protection, workers' rights, healthcare
expansion and public education.
Its immediate goal, beyond convincing colleges to de-Koch themselves?
"Transparency, because students should have the capability to be more aware
of who's funding their school and their education, and where funding might
conflict with student interests," said Kalin Jordan, an UnKoch My Campus
organizer. "The universities - most don't do a good job of informing
students at all."
Said Colin Nackerman, a student activist at George Mason University: "You
should know, if you're going into a classroom, that $30 million is going
into your school from someone who wants you to think a certain way."
Largely silent in the past, the Charles Koch Foundation has begun to push
back at such dissenters.
"They don't want students and scholars to expand their educational
horizons," Hardin, the foundation's university relations director, wrote in
a May 26 Wall Street Journal op-ed. "Rather than engage in a vigorous and
civil debate about the merits of different ideas, they seek to prevent those
with which they disagree from ever being heard."
For a more in-depth look into Koch funding into higher education, click
here.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
