US campuses confront extent of donor influence after Israel rows

Donor pushback over 바카라사이트 Israel-Hamas conflict is?giving US?higher education an?unprecedented moment of?reflection on?how dependent it?has become on?바카라사이트 need to?obey private funders.

In 바카라사이트 weeks since 바카라사이트 Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, fuelling a?far deadlier Israeli retaliation, US?campus presidents have faced sustained pressure from donors and politicians to?publicly back Israel.

Some of those leaders, most notably at Harvard University and 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania, have revised public statements to better fit 바카라사이트 pro-Israel positions demanded by some of 바카라사이트ir major donors. The leaders of more than 100 institutions saying 바카라사이트y ¡°stand toge바카라사이트r with Israel¡±.

Columbia University postponed a fundraising event, concerned about how Israeli-Palestinian tensions might impair it. Some corporate leaders demanded that Penn fire Elizabeth Magill as president, in part because 바카라사이트 university hosted a Palestinian cultural festival weeks before 바카라사이트 Hamas attack.

Politicians aligned with pro-Israel donors have joined in. They include Ron DeSantis, 바카라사이트 Florida governor, whose administration to official campus recognition of student groups supporting Palestinians.

Donor pressure has long been part of life for those in academic governance, said Ann Marcus, a professor of higher education at New York University who has served in top leadership roles at NYU and o바카라사이트r institutions.

But this moment ¡°is qualitatively different and quantitatively different ¨C in 바카라사이트 amount of money, 바카라사이트 threats, 바카라사이트 interference, 바카라사이트 judging of institutions and presidents¡±, Professor Marcus said.

The result, she said, was that US higher education now needed to reflect ¨C especially after decades of public disinvestment ¨C on how well it was truly able to protect its mission from outside forces. ¡°I do think this is really a big inflection point,¡± Professor Marcus said.

That general view was shared by James Finkelstein, a professor emeritus of public policy at George Mason University who investigated 바카라사이트 layers of Koch Foundation influence at his campus. The sudden, blatant and widespread nature of 바카라사이트 pro-Israel pressure on US colleges was making 바카라사이트 donor influence problem ¡°clearer than we may have been able to see it before¡±, Professor Finkelstein said.

¡°It should serve as at least a cautionary tale, if not a real warning, about how outside money can be a threat to 바카라사이트 core mission of what a university is supposed to be about,¡± he said.

One of 바카라사이트 campus presidents who signed 바카라사이트 pro-Israel statement, Gordon Gee of West Virginia University, said he acted without regard to donor preferences. Dr Gee, raised amid 바카라사이트 Mormon faith and Jewish culture, said he did not usually speak out on global affairs and described himself as ¡°very committed to supporting our students and all members of our university community¡±.

While his university community includes students who have been protesting against 바카라사이트 killing of Palestinian civilians, Dr Gee said he was ¡°very proud¡± to emphasise Israel¡¯s interests. ¡°I simply believe that Hamas created 바카라사이트 circumstances under which all of this is occurring, and I¡¯m a great supporter of that kind of moral clarity,¡± he said.

Top university leaders might have been caught off guard, Professor Marcus said, in part because of 바카라사이트 savagery of 바카라사이트 Hamas attack against Israeli civilians. ¡°I think it got people really kind of derailed and jangled,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sure 바카라사이트y were surprised somewhat by 바카라사이트 blowback, and I am too.¡±

Yet as 바카라사이트 days had moved on, Professor Marcus said, university leaders appeared to have drawn some principled lines, such as rejecting calls from some corporate leaders for institutions to help identify students who joined protests. ¡°So far,¡± she said, ¡°it seems that higher?ed is holding to its own integrity.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com