The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), established in 1987, represents 47 publicly supported historically Black colleges and universities. The TMCF recently received a pledge of $25.6 million from the Charles Koch Foundation that will be used to establish the Center for Advancing Opportunity.
The new center will be based in Washington, D.C. The organization will support the work of HBCU faculty conducting research on education, criminal justice, and entrepreneurship in what is described as “fragile communities.” The new center will also offer scholarships for students at HBCUs, sponsor academic forums, and conduct surveys on relevant issues.
The Koch Foundation, which is associated with many conservatives causes and political candidates, previously donated $25 million to the United Negro College Fund. (See JBHE post.) At that time, many left-leaning organizations criticized the UNCF for accepting the donation.
I hope that in accepting this money that the Fund will not be opening itself up for subliminal control by the Koch Brothers. Seems like I read a few years ago where a school accepted money from them and they ended up losing control of who was hired, what was taught and in some cases, who was admitted. I hope they thoroughly investigated what strings were attached to this money.