Friend, Taking on a university administration and a billionaire is a daunting task. I’m thus grateful for the support I’ve received from UnKoch My Campus, including putting together a petition and starting a campaign to support my action. To protest what is happening at my institution, Saint Louis University (SLU), I recently renounced the John Simon Endowed Chair in Economics. Specifically, SLU accepted a $50 million donation from St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinqufield that is fraught with flagrant violations of well-established academic norms.
In a nutshell, SLU hired Sinquefield’s hand-picked ally to direct a new economic research center funded by the donation and granted Sinquefield final approval for the disbursement of all funds from the donation, including the funding of individual research projects and faculty hiring in a new research institute at the university (also funded by the donation). Financial donor influence in hiring decisions and approval of research projects are obvious violations of academic norms; such norms are designed to protect the independence and integrity of academic research.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to engage in academic research as a vocation, and I was selected as the John Simon Endowed Chair in Economics primarily in recognition of my research record. Given the blatant disregard of academic norms surrounding the Sinquefield donation and the compromising of the independence of academic research at SLU, in good conscience, I could no longer serve as the Simon Endowed Chair. I also felt compelled to set an example to students that it is vital to stand for your principles, even if it costs you money and prestige.
The inability of society to respond effectively to the current crisis starkly illustrates the damage done by financial oligarchs to our vital social institutions. In our new Gilded Age, it’s more important than ever to support the work of UnKoch My Campus, so that our institutions of higher education promote the public good, instead of the private interests of wealthy elites. Join in support of UnKoch My Campus by becoming a sustaining donor. Dave Rapach Visiting Professor of Finance Washington University in St. Louis Professor of Economics Saint Louis University | |
