Students Sue George Mason University Over Koch Foundation Ties

FAIRFAX, VA — A group of George Mason University students filed a lawsuit Thursday against both the school and its primary fundraising arm in an attempt to find out more about the university's relationship with the Charles Koch Foundation.

The group, which calls itself Transparent GMU, says it's concerned about the potential for private donors to influence students' education and wants access to records that detail the school's involvement with the Koch Foundation, the school's biggest donor.

The group says students began a campaign in 2014 for donor transparency after the Koch Foundation entered into an agreement with Florida State University that gave the conservative organization influence over hiring and curriculum decisions.

To ensure similar agreements were not influencing decisions at their own school, Transparent
GMU filed a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request for the Mason's agreements with
the Koch Foundation but the university and the GMU Foundation said the records
weren’t covered by the Act.

After being denied access to the records, Transparent GMU worked with attorneys at
Appalachian Mountain Advocates, a public interest law firm, to explore other options.

Here's what attorney Evan Johns says:

"It’s disappointing to see the Foundation turn away students who are justifiably concerned about
donor influence at their university—especially when Virginia’s open records law is so clear. The law simply does not allow a public university to conceal its records by outsourcing its public business to a private company."

Here's a copy of the suit.

Here's background information from Transparent GMU.

Photo: Transparent GMU