How Money Corrupts Higher Ed

The Public Sphere

On the show today, Pete talks to Samantha Parsons, a co-founder of Unkoch My Campus and Transparent GMU. These organizations expose the influence The Charles Koch foundation on colleges and universities throughout the United States.

In a recent episode of The Public Sphere, Pete and I discussed the lawsuit brought by Transparent GMU against the George Mason University Foundation, the fundraising arm of the school. We’ll get an update on that lawsuit and talk the problem of “dark money” from a national perspective.

Samantha Parsons is a grassroots campaign organizer and co-founder of UnKoch My Campus. She provides students, faculty, and other university stakeholders with the support needed to investigate, expose, and launch strategic grassroots campaigns to address undue donor manipulation of their campuses. She is a 2016 alumna of George Mason University with a degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As a student, she supported the growth of campus activism throughout the state of Virginia as a member of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition and the Virginia Student Power Network. Her research interests include university policy development, institutional funding models, the role of the academy in a democratic society, and critical conflict resolution.

• UnKoch My Campus: http://www.unkochmycampus.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnKochMyCampus/
• Twitter: @UnKochCampus
• Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demand-president-cabrera-release-all-donor-agreements-to-faculty
• To Donate to UnKoch My Campus: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/help-expose-the-koch-brothers-and-protect-our-universities

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