Koch and Arizona State University (ASU)

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Follow the money in the Koch wiki.

Arizona State University (ASU) is the largest public university in the U.S. by enrollment, at 83,301 students in the Fall of 2014.[1][2]. ASU is located on five distinct campuses across the metropolitan Phoenix area.[3]

ASU recently accepted two multi-million dollar grant pledges from the Charles Koch Foundation to establish two new research centers. [4][5] Public scrutiny over the new operations escalated in 2016 when Arizona’s legislature specifically earmarked $5 million for the two newly established centers at ASU, and a similar Koch-funded center at the University of Arizona (UA) in the state’s budget plan.[6] The use of taxpayer funds for Koch-affiliated campus centers was opposed by professors, students and legislators concerned ideological ties to big businesses and partisan political figures.

In May, 2017, the Arizona legislature and governor approved a state budget that earmarked $2 million for the "freedom schools" at ASU and UA. Out of $15 million in total taxpayer funding to state universities, ASU received $7.6 million, $1 million of which was for the Koch-funded campus center.[7]

Koch money to ASU

According to data compiled by Greenpeace USA, using Koch Family Foundations IRS tax filings:[8]

2014: $230,700

  • $230,700 paid
  • $831,000 unpaid pledge approved for future payments
  • $1,129,000 unpaid pledge for the ASU Center for Political Thought and Leadership [9]
  • $3,500,000 unpaid pledge for the ASU Center for the Study of Economic Liberty [10]

2015: $942,227

  • $917,227 paid
  • $25,000 paid for "ASU Foundation For A New American University"

Sources Cited

  1. Arizona State University, About, accessed November, 2016
  2. Arizona State University, Quick Facts PDF, Fall 2014
  3. Arizona State University, ASU Campuses and Locations, accessed November, 2016
  4. Sharon Keeler, New ASU center to engage community in politics, leadership, ASU Now, July 25, 2014
  5. Arizona Republic, ASU creates economic-liberty center with $5 million in gifts, Nov. 28, 2014
  6. Alex Kotch, The Koch Brothers Are Using This State as Their Right-Wing Laboratory, AlterNet, May 23, 2016.
  7. Howard Fischer, Ducey signs $9.8 billion state budget, Arizona Daily Star, via Capital Media Services, May 12, 2017
  8. Charles Koch University Funding Database, PolluterWatch, accessed May, 2017.
  9. Michael Hiltzik, When universities sell their souls, why do they have to sell so cheaply?, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2014
  10. Director Named For ASU’s Center For Political Thought And Leadership, Arizona Daily Independent, July 26, 2017

Additional References

Academic Freedom References

Koch and Academic Freedom

Shared Governance References


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