Influence Peddling? Over 200 US Universities Received Billions in 'Undocumented Contributions from Foreign Governments': Report
The shocking anti-Semitism revealed on elite college campuses since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 has suddenly opened people’s eyes to the agenda being pushed on impressionable minds in these so-called bastions of learning.
Two days after the Hamas attacks, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called out student organizations at Harvard University that blamed Israel for the massacre.
“What the hell is wrong with Harvard? Given the choice between standing with Israel or supporting terrorists who are raping, kidnapping & killing thousands of women & children…31 student groups choose the terrorists,” he said in a post on X. “Their blazing hatred & antisemitism [are] utterly blinding. “
What the hell is wrong with Harvard?
Given the choice between standing with Israel or supporting terrorists who are raping, kidnapping & killing thousands of women & children…31 student groups choose the terrorists.
Their blazing hatred & antisemitism utterly blinding. https://t.co/86kvynyIFs
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 9, 2023
What is going on at Harvard and other colleges? Well, a new report may give us an answer.
On Monday, the Network Contagion Research Institute released a study titled “The Corruption of the American Mind: How Concealed Foreign Funding of U.S. Higher Education Predicts Erosion of Democratic Values and Antisemitic Incidents on Campus.”
The report revealed the clandestine flow of funds from countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates into the coffers of more than 200 U.S. universities to the tune of approximately $13 billion in “undocumented contributions from foreign governments” between 2014 and 2019.
A major portion of the donations funds came from “authoritarian regimes,” the NCRI report said.
The scale of the financial influx is staggering, with Carnegie Mellon University leading the list at $1.47 billion, followed closely by Cornell University with $1.29 billion, Harvard with $894 million, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with $859 million.
Qatar was the largest contributor, providing $2.7 billion, which raises questions about the motivations behind such financial support.
Qatar’s capital, Doha, is the location of one of the headquarters of Hamas. The top three Hamas leaders — Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzuk and Khaled Mashal — are worth more than $11 billion combined and live a lavish lifestyle in the “sanctuary” of Qatar, according to the New York Post.
Hamas leaders worth staggering $11bn revel in luxury — while Gaza’s people suffer https://t.co/KUVRU9p8PI pic.twitter.com/R4wUyYqFzI
— New York Post (@nypost) November 7, 2023
According to the NCRI report, these huge donations were not recorded with the U.S. Department of Education between 2014 and 2019.
One cannot ignore the suspicious nature of these substantial foreign contributions or wonder about the strings attached.
The notion that international actors may be utilizing undisclosed channels to funnel large sums of money into U.S. colleges, particularly those with significant cultural and political influence, raises grave concerns about the erosion of values fundamental to a democratic society.
The report highlights the concern that the “massive influx of foreign, concealed donations to American institutions of higher learning, much of it from authoritarian regimes … reflects or supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry and free expression.”
It raises “the sobering possibility” that international actors are funneling large sums of money into colleges and “elite institutions that often have outsized influence on American culture and politics” for reasons that are “harmful to the democratic norms of pluralism, tolerance, and freedom,” the report said.
“There clearly has been an erosion of democratic norms on campuses (self-censorship; censorship by scientists; disinvitations rising; abandonment of free speech/academic freedom by academics),” the authors of the report said.
“One possibility, however, is that receipt of undocumented funding from foreign sources, especially authoritarian ones, has contributed to these developments,” they said.
NCRI Report by The Western Journal
While some universities like Cornell have defended the funding they received by citing collaborations and initiatives, the broader implications of foreign influence on academic freedom, open inquiry and free expression cannot be overlooked.
The sheer scale of undisclosed money raises the alarming question: Are American universities selling out our country’s values to the highest bidder?
Whether intentional or not, the report also points to a broader concern — the contamination of the “American” mind by a globalist contagion promoting anti-American, anti-Christian and anti-capitalist ideologies.
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