The arrogance, corruption, and dishonesty of many of our most prestigious universities have become so bad that the only reasonable historic American parallel is Lincoln Steffens's 1904 book "The Shame of the Cities."
Steffens’ book was a stunning exposure of big city government corruption that convinced the American people to enact a profound wave of reforms.
Now, some of our greatest educational institutions have been corrupted by foreign interests and money. This is hurting American students, our culture of freedom of ideas – and in some cases threatening our national security. The integrity of some of our oldest, most established universities has eroded to the point that only a major reform movement will save them – and our future.
At a minimum, we need a federal law that requires real-time, online publication of all foreign gifts to universities.
CHINESE DONORS FUNNELED MILLIONS INTO UNIVERSITY RUNNING PENN BIDEN CENTER DURING BIDEN PRESIDENCY
Consider three cases in New England: The University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The University of Pennsylvania created the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement for former Vice President Joe Biden when he left office. It became a holding ground for key members of the Biden team, including the current Secretary of State. In fact, 10 Biden administration officials were on the Penn-Biden Center payroll:
Chinese Communists have donated an estimated $67 million to the University of Pennsylvania. We don’t know the actual amount or distribution – because the University of Pennsylvania refuses to open its books and be transparent or accountable.
Of course, is the center in which a number of classified documents were found. Who put them there, who used them, and why they were taken there all remain a mystery.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News: "The Chinese Communist Party’s inside every major American university today with research dollars and with their students.
"They’re at the University of Pennsylvania, too… And we now know that this Chinese money, these Chinese officials met classified documents in that space."
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Under the previous administration, the U.S. Department of Education reported more than $6.5 billion in foreign funding and resources had been uncovered and never disclosed (contrary to law) by American universities. Money was funneled in from China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar just to name a few.
Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in 2020 that The University of Delaware’s Biden Institute was even more secretive than the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center. The institute houses 1,875 boxes of then-Sen. Biden’s papers and many gigabytes of electronic data – and everything is secret. Because the University of Delaware is so politically connected and powerful, it is exempt from state Freedom of Information Act laws. We have no idea who gave money to the Biden Institute or who got it.
Finally, while he was Secretary of State, Pompeo was blocked from speaking at MIT, because university officials thought it would offend the Chinese. One of our most prestigious universities refused to host America’s top diplomat, because their relationship with China was more important. (NBA anyone?)
As Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the new Select Committee on China, wrote to me in an email:
Congress must act to uncover and stop the Chinese Communist penetration of American higher education – and its role in the growing anti-American attitudes of many of our most important institutions of learning. The American people deserve to know.
