WSU- New business building would house Koch-funded Institute for the Study of Economic Growth

The Koch Brothers, David and Charles have pretty much taken over Wichita State University. Buildings, such as Koch Arena, formerly Henry Levitt, are there to remind people how much they have invested in the University and how much influence they have. They are like wild cats that pee to mark their territory. They have peed all over WSU by putting their names every where. They use their contributions to bolster their pro-business, anti-union, far-to-the right philosophy. They just can’t put up enough buildings and departments to push their agenda. –SJ Otto

From the WSU Sunflower:

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By Matthew Kelly

If this week’s Shock the Future referendum passes, $20 million in student fees from students across all six of Wichita State’s academic colleges will go towards Woolsey Hall, the $50 million business building set for construction on Innovation Campus.

Donors have already raised $30 million for the building, which would become the new home of the Institute for the Study of Economic Growth, currently housed in the basement of Clinton Hall. Announced in September 2017, the institute was funded through a $3.6 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation.

Through his foundation, the billionaire Koch Industries CEO has supported the creation of centers for economic research on college campuses across the country — spurring on concerns that his conservative, free-market ideology could compromise universities’ academic research.

WSU has a Center for Economic Development and Business Research that operates independently from the institute. WSU officials have maintained that the university’s academic freedom will be preserved in the institute.

“Preserving academic freedom and following normal university processes . . . Those two principles were paramount in our decision to move forward,” Barton School of Business Dean Anand Desai said in 2017. “It was important that we preserve those things at Wichita State.

“The goal is to expose our students to a broad range of ideas and methodologies so that they will ultimately decide. We’re not forcing them to think in any particular manner. It’s their choice.”

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