Private foundation donations to universities may raise questions

Private foundations have been giving more money to UNC and other schools nationwide in recent years — but their contributions might open up questions about academic integrity in the face of gifts that come with donor conditions.

Conditional donations are gifts made to universities in which donors indicate desired uses for their money. Such conditions can range from naming an endowment after a donor’s loved one to donors requesting influence in hiring decisions made with their money.

UNC administrators said the University doesn’t risk its integrity when accepting private donations. But some faculty said they are aware of the potential for universities across the country to face difficult decisions in light of ongoing budget cuts, which make private donations increasingly important.

UNC saw a $44 million reduction in state funding this year, and UNC history professor Cemil Aydin said he thinks faculty members are trying to reach out for more private money in response to the cuts.

“That is not fair, because research universities do a public service,” Aydin said. “There could be a case for increased public funding for good research, but unfortunately, especially in the humanities, the professors have to seek more private funding now.”

Omid Safi, UNC religious studies professor, said because of budget cuts, professors increasingly have to seek funding for new programs and initiatives themselves.

“It turns faculty members into fundraisers, more and more having to accept money from people who have yucky politics — politics and strings attached to money that runs fundamentally counter to the University, from my perspective,” Safi said.

UNC’s donors do not usually ask to affect academic curriculum or faculty hires, said David Routh, vice chancellor for University development.

“More of our supporters want to support the University, or one of our schools and units, or one of our departments — and are very comfortable with a leader of that department or a faculty member determining where that gift goes,” he said.

But the influence of private foundations has raised questions about academic freedom at other universities. In 2011, the American Association of University Professors published a letter sent in March 2008 by John Allison, then the CEO of banking company BB&T, awarding Florida State University a $1.5 million grant.

The letter specified uses for the money, including the creation of a new course on morals and ethics in economic systems and the distribution of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” to undergraduates in the College of Business and graduate students in finance and economics.

Routh said UNC faculty and administrators have been reluctant to accept donations that require any curriculum changes.

Still, Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania who studies philanthropy, said she thinks universities always have to worry about strings potentially attached to donations.

“(Some) universities might let (donors) get a little more involved, but that is going to get a really negative reaction from some members of the board of trustees, some members of faculty, and I think that is a real risk,” she said.

Routh said he approves any negotiations about proposed donations, and the chancellor ultimately has the final say.

Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, director of the philosophy, politics and economics program at UNC, said he has heard of donors wanting to influence curriculum and faculty at other institutions, but never experienced that with donors to the PPE minor.

“External funders have nothing to do with establishing the (PPE) curriculum, or the content of the curriculum or the people we hire — and they didn’t try to,” Sayre-McCord said.

In September, the PPE minor received a $1 million grant from the Langman Family Foundation. The gift will provide $200,000 per year for the next five years to support two visiting professorships, two graduate teaching fellowships, an annual national PPE conference for undergraduates, an annual PPE workshop for researchers around the world and a PPE speaker series.

Aydin said in his experience, established universities like UNC would not compromise faculty integrity for private money.

“The ideal university should have leverage. They should have strong faculty principles and research infrastructure,” Aydin said. “On one hand that gives confidence that (universities) won’t compromise their principles. On the other hand because they are so strong, outside donors get more out of their investments.”

Carl Ernst, a UNC religious studies professor, said private donations should be made based on respect for a university’s decision-making process.

“Legitimate private support strengthens institutions and allows them to perform in the way they’re designed to do.”

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