Why are the Kochs giving $25 million to poor black college students?

http://grist.org/politics/why-are-the-kochs-giving-25-million-to-poor-black-college-students/

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Kamilah Harris @DaHomieK
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1 Of The Biggest Polluters On The Planet In The #KochBrothers Have Polluted The Minds Of Some Blacks Who Think Dirty Funding HBCUs Is Better
5:55 PM - 7 Jun 2014

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Political commentator Julianne Malveaux asked if UNCF “made a deal with the devil” by signing black students’ lives over to the Kochs. She compared the donation to the Los Angeles NAACP chapter accepting donations from Don Sterling, the embattled L.A. Clippers owner who was recorded making racist comments.

In an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed, Marybeth Gasman, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Minority Serving Institutions, argues that UNCF should give the money back. The UPenn professor wrote the 2007 book Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund, and has served on a number of UNCF-related advisory boards, including that of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, whose research UNCF cites in justifying the need for the scholarship donation.

Meaning, Gasman is well aware that UNCF is in such dire straits lately that it has had to deny nine out of 10 scholarship applicants due to financial constraints. She still opposes the Koch contribution.

“Yes, $25 million is alluring and could be used to help black students,” Gasman wrote. “However, the costs are too high. … The Koch brothers have given huge amounts of money to Tea Party candidates who oppose many policies, initiatives, and laws that empower African Americans.”