Foreign Money Corrupts American Universities

College students across the country spent much of the past few months protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, calling on their universities to “divest” from Israel. However, there’s another topic they should be protesting just as vehemently, and far closer to home: their universities’ continued willingness to accept staggering sums from some of the world’s most heinous dictatorships, including those that are actively abetting groups like Hamas.

American universities’ acceptance of such dirty money was in the spotlight just a few years ago, when the Trump administration oversaw an unprecedented investigation into universities’ failing to disclose foreign funding. Thanks to legislation first introduced in the 1960s, universities were required to disclose all substantial gifts and contracts with foreign entities. But for decades, that requirement was effectively unenforced.

CM

About the Author

Casey Michel

Casey Michel is director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation and is the author of the forthcoming book Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World.

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College students across the country spent much of the past few months protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, calling on their universities to “divest” from Israel. However, there’s another topic they should be protesting just as vehemently, and far closer to home: their universities’ continued willingness to accept staggering sums from some of the world’s most heinous dictatorships, including those that are actively abetting groups like Hamas.

American universities’ acceptance of such dirty money was in the spotlight just a few years ago, when the Trump administration oversaw an unprecedented investigation into universities’ failing to disclose foreign funding. Thanks to legislation first introduced in the 1960s, universities were required to disclose all substantial gifts and contracts with foreign entities. But for decades, that requirement was effectively unenforced.