Newt Gingrich: The Shame of the Universities

We need a federal law that requires online publication in real-time of all foreign gifts sent to universities.

By Newt Gingrich

The arrogance, corruption, and dishonesty of many of our most prestigious universities have become so bad that the only reasonable historic American parallel is Lincoln Steffens’ 1904 book “The Shame of the Cities.”

Steffens’ book was a stunning exposure of big city government corruption that convinced the American people to enact a profound wave of reforms.

Some of the most prestigious educational institutions in America have been influenced by foreign money and interests. This is hurting American students, our culture of freedom of ideas – and in some cases threatening our national security. The integrity of some of our oldest, most established universities has eroded to the point that only a major reform movement will save them – and our future.

A federal law that requires online publication of foreign gifts to universities is a minimum requirement.

Three cases are worth mentioning in New England: The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware.

When Joe Biden left office, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement was created by the University of Pennsylvania. It served as a base for key members from the Biden team, including current Secretary of State. Ten Biden administration officials were actually on the Penn-Biden Center payroll.

1. Antony Blinken Secretary of State (Penn Biden Center managingdirector)
2. White House counselor Steven Richetti (Penn Biden Center managing director)
3. Colin Kahl is the Under Secretary for Defense for Policy (Penn Biden Center strategic adviser).
4. Spencer Boyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Europe and NATO Policy (Penn Biden Center senior Fellow)
5. Deputy to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeffrey Prescott (Penn Biden Center strategic advisor)
6. Ariana Berengaut is Senior Adviser for the National Security Advisor (Penn Biden Center Director).
7. U.S. Representative at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
8. Michael Carpenter (Penn Biden Center managing director)
9. Juan Gonzalez, Special Assistant to President (Penn Biden Center Senior Fellow)
10. Special Assistant to Biden and Senior Directors for Speechwriting and Strategic Initiatives Carlyn Richel (director of communications at Penn Biden Center)
11. Brian McKeon, former Deputy Secretary for State for Management and Resources (Penn Biden Center senior Director)

Chinese Communists have donated approximately University of Pennsylvania to receive $67 million. We don’t know the actual amount or distribution – because the University of Pennsylvania refuses to open its books and be transparent or accountable.

This is where a lot of classified documents were discovered. They are still a mystery as to who took them, why they were there and how they got there.

Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State Telled Fox News: “The Chinese Communist Party’s inside every major American university today with research dollars and with their students.

“They’re at the University of Pennsylvania, too… And we now know that this Chinese money, these Chinese officials met classified documents in that space.”

Under the previous administration, more than $6.5 Billion in foreign funding was reported by the U.S. Department of Education. American universities had not disclosed these resources (contrary law). To name just a few, money was funneled into the United Arab Emirates from Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China.

Former Secretary of Education Betsy Devos said in 2020 that The University of Delaware’s Biden Institute was even more secretive than the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center. The institute houses 1,875 boxes of then-Sen. Biden’s papers and many gigabytes of electronic data – and everything is secret. The University of Delaware is politically connected and powerful so it is exempted from state Freedom of Information Act laws. We don’t know who donated money to the Biden institute or how it was obtained.

Finally, Pompeo was prevented from speaking at MIT while he was Secretary-of-State. Officials thought it would offend Chinese. One of our most prestigious universities refused to host America’s top diplomat, because their relationship with China was more important. (NBA anyone?)

Rep. Mike Gallagher is the chairman of the Select Committee on China. He wrote an email to me:

“What we need to point out relentlessly is that universities are addicted to Chinese Communist Party money. This gives the Chinese Communist Party enormous access and influence on our college campuses, and recognizing this threat, the Trump administration used a little-known tool in the form of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires colleges and universities to report foreign gifts and donations over $250,000. Thanks to its efforts, the Trump Education Department uncovered $6.5 billion in previously unreported foreign gifts, grants, and contracts involving some of our country’s most prestigious universities. But since President Biden took office, the number of reported foreign gifts has plummeted, and this math just doesn’t add up. That should concern us all as Americans.”

Congress must act to uncover and stop the Chinese Communist penetration of American higher education – and its role in the growing anti-American attitudes of many of our most important institutions of learning. The American people should know.

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