Florida State Narrowly Dodged Trouble From Koch Grant, Review Concludes

A faculty panel’s review of a controversial agreement between Florida State University and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation has concluded that the foundation did not unduly influence university hiring decisions, mainly because Florida State’s economics department did not follow provisions in the pact allowing such interference. In a report on its findings released on Friday and covered in depth in the St. Petersburg Times, the panel recommended that the university take steps to ensure that future agreements with donors do not give them any say over faculty hiring. The university’s president, Eric J. Barron, issued a statement that said the university would follow the panel’s recommendations regarding future contracts with donors, but he saw no need to accede to demands that he scrap the Koch-foundation agreement.