Advice for college megadonors whose alma maters fail the test

As someone who grew up in abject poverty and was homeless often as a child, I have never been a fan of macro solutions to the problems that plague humanity. It may be a great way to fundraise, but it generally does little to solve the crisis being exploited. 

Take hunger and poverty. Over the decades, literally hundreds of billions have been raised to eradicate life-destroying sorrows that continually get worse. Of course, the argument can, has and should be made that much of those billions went to overhead, exorbitant salaries, lavish “fact-finding” trips — or was outright stolen. 

Based upon my own experiences, I have always been a fan of micro solutions to difficult to solve problems. With regard to hunger and poverty, I have long preached (and practiced) that in our daily lives, we all know at least one fellow person — a relative, a friend, a business colleague or a stranger we noticed in our travels — going through some of the worst that life has to offer. If each of us stepped up to help just that one person, I maintain that real progress would be made. 

With that in mind, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has suddenly put our colleges, universities and the donors who fund them squarely in the spotlight.

Suddenly, liberal megadonors who have regularly and generously donated to their alma maters have now woken to the “woke” perception that has been permeating those institutions for years. What awakened them from their ignorant slumber was a chorus of antisemitic, massively intolerant screeds echoing across various campuses.

Should these megadonors have woken long before when certain conservative, faith-based or Asian students were regularly being discriminated against? Of course. But later is still better than never.

What obligations do megadonors on either side of the political divide have to the ultimate welfare of our nation, our national security and the wellbeing of corporations that employ tens of millions of Americans? Shouldn’t the potential millions of dollars they donate stand for something? Shouldn’t it go towards effecting a positive change rather than disappearing down an ideological sinkhole? 

Here again, I believe there is a micro solution to such a dilemma.

A growing percentage of our population has come to believe that many colleges and universities have willingly — or via bullying — gotten away from the core mission of educating students. In place of such education, the schools now pacify students, indoctrinate them or yield to their often childish and counterproductive demands.

Today, while a degree in the “degradation of microaggressions” might make certain students feel empowered, it does nothing whatsoever to help with the staffing of our intelligence agencies; ensuring our national security; the advancement of medical science; stabilizing our banking system; or expanding the job market.

Do these megadonors want to continue to waste millions on the grievances of the week and those who preach censorship, or do they want to support that which makes our nation stronger and more secure, while giving students the intellectual tools needed to compete with the rest of the world? 

If so, the obvious question becomes: Which colleges and universities now bypass self-destructive bumper-sticker curriculums to focus on not only preparing their students for the real world but making them highly attractive candidates for corporate and governmental America?

While there are thankfully still a number, I would like to highlight two. The first is the new “anti-woke” University of Austin, a four-year college created by former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss dedicated to freedom of thought and expression. 

Weiss — a desperately needed voice of reason — has assembled an impressive board of advisors, including former New York magazine columnist Andrew Sullivan, former ACLU president Nadine Strossen and economist Glenn Loury, as well as wealthy trustees like Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale.

While much of liberal academia and the liberal media has already attacked the school and its mission (even more reason for megadonors to check it out), it still aims to welcome its first class of full-time four-year undergraduates in 2024.

Next comes an institution of higher learning I became affiliated with about a year ago called the Institute of World Politics.

IWP is truly unique in that it is a completely nonpartisan, independent graduate school founded to fill a major national need: to supply professional education in statecraft, national security, intelligence and international affairs.

Surely some megadonors suddenly reminded that evil walks the earth may be interested in learning more about a graduate school whose curriculum covers all the arts of statecraft, offered by no other school, while steering well clear of partisan traps.

Be it IWP, the University of Austin, or others, the greater point is that the megadonors pulling their money out of certain colleges and universities should diligently do their own homework to identify institutions of higher learning that not only speak to their values but prepare students for life — while contributing to the greater security of our nation. 

For these megadonors, “Honest and Uncensored Education 101” must be a prerequisite. 

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.