Deliberating donations

Movies like “Scarface” and “American Gangster” reinforce the message: Money is a suitable outcome no matter what measures are taken to obtain it.

Recently, prominent universities across the country are refusing donations from tobacco companies because of the public health impact of smoking and the misuse of research, which the industry uses to confuse consumers, according to a New York Times article.

The article said the public health schools at Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the Emory University Medical School have banned tobacco money.

Officials at the University of Texas at Austin business school decided to refuse all tobacco money for student groups and faculty research after Philip Morris, a tobacco company, inquired about becoming a major donor to the school, the article said.

Fairfield Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer William Lucas said that Fairfield has no restriction on which donors it accepts money from, and tries to use that money in the best way possible.

In terms of donations to the endowment, Lucas said the University invests in a structured portfolio of various companies that “may or may not include tobacco companies.”

“We can’t pick and choose who we invest in,” he said. “The financial committee, which is made up of members of the Board of Trustees, invests in a diversified group of companies that appears to have the most long-term success potential.”

Vice President of Advancement Stephanie Frost agreed with Lucas and said the University is supported by various U.S. corporations – some companies support Fairfield with direct gifts, while others come from companies with employees close to Fairfield who match the donation made by his or her company.

“We have no University policy that would prohibit us from receiving

contributions from any company that practices within the laws of the United States,” she said.

Frost’s attitude was echoed by Mike Palombo ’10, an accounting major who has an on-campus job.

“Money is money,” he said. “As long as it is coming to the University legally, they shouldn’t care what type of product the company is producing.”

Winston Tellis, an information systems and operations management professor, questioned how universities can refuse donations from certain companies based solely on the product they produce.

“Who should decide whether a target investment is inappropriate?” he asked. “If tobacco is harmful to the individual, is not oil indirectly harmful to humanity because of the harmful environmental effects of its by-products?”

Business major Jerry Schneider ’10 said that universities should not decline certain donations on the grounds of the company’s main product.

“If a tobacco company were to donate money, they’re giving it to us to put to good use, not in an attempt to sell cigarettes on campus,” said Schneider.

“From time to time, different investments would be considered undesirable, even clothing produced at sweatshops,” said Tellis. “Who would know the facts about these production facilities and be able to determine for example, is Nike worse than Adidas?”