The debate over a potential Pope Foundation gift is just, well…dumb. The squabbling among various University constituencies seems like a big waste of time. Let’s get over it and take their money – especially at a time when the University wants more of mine.
The controversy surrounds a potential gift by the John William Pope Foundation to fund various programs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The college’s new dean, Toby Parcel, contacted the Pope Foundation to discuss the possibility of a private gift for study abroad scholarships and foreign language programs. I like this dean – always looking for more money.
A couple of years ago, a similar debate over a potential Pope gift occurred at UNC-Chapel Hill. The storm surrounded the University’s planned Western Culture Studies Minor and the possible $12 million gift by the Pope Foundation to fund the program. The Western Civilization program was developed by faculty in Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences. Like the current N.C. State scenario, UNC-CH approached the Popes to fund the program. Honoring UNC’s request, the Foundation gave the institution $25,000 to plan the minor. Ultimately this type of program will cost a university between $600,000 and $700,000 a year, which requires an endowment investment of $12 million.
The Pope clan, led by former state representative Art Pope, is a generous benefactor to numerous higher education institutions. Past Pope contributions to NCSU include a $500,000 gift to develop a program to investigate the relationship between politics and free markets. The family, which made its fortune in retailing, also gave Carolina over $2 million to supplement assistant football coaches’ salaries in September 2006.
It seems that some at our University, including faculty and now the Student Senate, don’t want the foundation’s money. Why? The Pope Foundation is notorious for supporting conservative causes including the John Locke Foundation and the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.
The Pope Center, an “independent” non-profit policy think tank, has been highly critical of activities, faculty and programs at UNC system schools. Often the criticism is in the form of the Pope Center’s “Course of the Month.” According to the Pope Center Web site, courses are chosen because of their “overt political content, rabid infatuation with pop culture or sexuality and abject silliness. As a general rule of thumb, anything with ‘studies’ or ‘awareness’ in the course title is fair game.”
As you might expect, Carolina is usually the target of ridicule by the Pope Center for courses taught on their campus. Courses mocked include “The Social and Economic History of the Black Presence at UNC-Chapel Hill” and “Girl Culture: Studies in Femininity and Feminism.”
With all that said, I have one suggestion – just take their money. Most universities chomp at the opportunity to land such an award. I am in no way a supporter of the Pope Center. I don’t think my views about higher education, especially tuition policy, mesh with their stances – but I would sure let them take me out to lunch.
Why not take it one step further? Take their money and prove them wrong. Is it not the case that research is far removed from the dollars that pays for it? Everyone proclaims that the research process is void of monetary influences.
Acceptance of gifts by universities should not hinge on the political ideology of the donor. Critics of the donation cite an attack on academic freedom but where is the freedom when only certain viewpoints are accepted on campus? Neither the Pope Foundation nor the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy will have control of the faculty or the content of the curriculum. .Money is scarce at North Carolina’s public universities. Instead of picking the pockets of students for more money with astronomical tuition increases, embrace the private gifts of everyone including the Pope’s.
Let Andrew know if you would accept a Pope grant at viewpoint@technicianonline.com.
