Student View: FSU Not Wrong to Accept Koch Money

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

FSView & Florida Flambeau

August 25, 2011

by Shannon McGuire

 

With classes just beginning at Florida State, I am interested to see the mood within the economics department after the dust has settled from the Koch donation. The decision of the FSU Faculty Senate Committee exonerated the FSU President and economics faculty from any allegations of permitting a private donor, the Koch Foundation, to oversee their decisions.

But little was said about the false allegations of the liberal internet media outlet, Progress Florida, who publically accused FSU of compromising the integrity of public education with little to no investigation. Progress Florida’s reckless allegation tarnished the reputation of one of the best economics departments in the country and all those who graduate from it.

As an economics major at FSU, I have worked hard to succeed in the stimulating and rigorous courses that Progress Florida so easily discredited. Now everything we have worked for has just become collateral damage in some upstart liberal media outlet’s rage against anything conservative.

In the words of President Eric Barron: “If we wish to ensure the future of public education and the future of this nation, it is extremely important that our discourse and debate be based on fact.” Undeniably, Florida State continues to have an impeccable economics department partially due to the charitable donations made by the Koch Foundation. Thank you, Koch, for investing in my future. I can only hope the criticisms and false accusations trumpeted by the liberal press will not discourage such generous donations in the future or damage the reputation of everything I have worked for in the past four years.

View the original article in FSU News

This article originally appeared in the FSView & Florida Flambeau August 25, 2011

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