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Letter to the editor: Koch Brothers

Recently, Al-jazeera America, The Atlantic and the Center for Public Integrity published an article about corporate money and its influence in academia. The article says that millions of dollars have been spent by the Koch Brothers to promote their agenda from the legislature and into educational institutions.

The Koch brothers have a lot more free speech than you, I guarantee that. If they want something, they buy it. Even the reputation of our universities.

In a contract signed by Utah State and Charles Koch Foundation, “USU will allow Charles Koch Foundation to review and approve the text of any proposed publicity that includes mention of the foundation or the funding amount.” Quite clearly, they held the power to silence our university from commenting. In addition, the foundation said it would require the university to “recruit and maintain the professors in accordance to the objectives and purposes” established by Koch.

The contract also made it clear that the foundation would not be obligated to pay for a professor position that has not been approved of. So they chose the professor, they chose the reading list for students and they chose what the university was to say and not to say about its contract.

The issue here, for me, is more about the transparency or lack thereof on the issue. Utah State University has neglected my requests for donation records of the Koch Family and the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation, and has followed the contract’s rules on confidentiality.

Under the Government Records and Management Act, taxpayers of the state of Utah have a statutory right to determine for themselves how public monies are solicited, accepted, and spent. Access to public financial information promotes trustworthy institutions.

For those who don’t know, the Koch family is among the most powerful in the world, they own Koch Industries, Georgia Pacific, many other companies relating to fossil fuels, synthetic materials, cattle ranching and industrial farming companies, not including the Charles Koch Foundation and all its affiliated groups like Americans for Prosperity.

What’s dangerous about the Koch brothers et al., is that their wealth directly translates into power, influence and a greater freedom of speech than the average citizen or even average wealthy person. The Kochs wish to make a “marketplace of thought” on campuses. Why is our education a marketplace? Can our education be bought or sold?

Diego Mendiola