Priorities should not be in hands of donors

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 Edward Chiao

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The sheer size of entertainment industry big-wig David
Geffen’s generous $200 million donation to the UCLA Medical
School makes it remarkable, but its lack of usage restrictions are
what make it admirable.

Often times when individuals or corporations bestow gifts upon
universities they come with strings attached. Some donors require
their gifts be used to research or teach an area the donor ““
not the recipient ““ deems worthy. As nice as it must be for
corporations or individuals to further their areas of expertise,
the missions of outside agencies should not determine the
educational goals and priorities of a public university.

The UC, in recognizing this problem, needs to be more critical
when accepting future gifts. Just because there are “friends
of the university” willing to donate substantial sums of
money doesn’t mean we should sell our educational and
research emphases to the highest bidder. The UC ultimately belongs
to California taxpayers. Without their dollars to fund and guide
the university, we would all be subject to the whims of a wealthy
donor.

The university should be more open in discussing the terms of
certain donations ““ especially if they influence academic
curricula or research priorities. Donors have every right to remain
anonymous, but that right cannot offset students’ right to
know whether a course is being offered for its academic merits or
its interest to a donor.

Geffen deserves to have the university show its appreciation by
renaming the Medical School in his honor; for that kind of money he
could have a stadium named after him. However, the
university’s gratitude should never obligate its students to
a particular course of study.