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Texas A&M University blasted a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that claimed the university had failed to disclose $100 million in donations from Russia and Qatar, claiming the report was “incorrect.”
In a letter to the Wall Street Journal, a copy of which was provided to the Washington Examiner, Texas A&M interim vice chancellor Johnny Hurtado said an op-ed by National Association of Scholars research associate Neetu Arnold that claimed the university had failed to disclose $100 million in foreign donations from Russia and Qatar was “incorrect.”
Arnold’s op-ed centered on the lack of reporting of donations received by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, a research agency attached to the Texas A&M University system, according to the station’s own website. Under section 117 of the Higher Education Act, U.S. colleges and universities and their affiliated organizations are required to disclose any foreign donations totaling $250,000 or more to the U.S. Department of Education.
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But in his letter to the Wall Street Journal, Hurtado said that even though the experiment station is part of the university system, it is “a separate state agency of the Texas A&M University System, not a part of Texas A&M University, and is not covered by the federal statute.”
“The Department of Education completed an investigation last year without taking any action while commending A&M System officials for their ‘continued commitment to the disclosure requirements of Section 117 and the Department’s statutory enforcement obligations,'” Hurtado said.
In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Education under the Trump administration issued a lengthy report on the compliance of higher education institutions with federal reporting requirements. In 2019, the department also initiated investigations into a dozen institutions, including Texas A&M, for failing to comply with reporting requirements. The report says the investigations prompted several institutions to “catch up” on reported funding.
“The federal government has repeatedly recognized the A&M System for its efforts to protect intellectual property from foreign actors with its robust counter-intelligence operations,” Hurtado said. “Finally, Wall Street Journal readers should know that the A&M System regularly reviews all contracts with foreign entities and has cancelled contracts with Russian entities, China, and other entities of concern.”
“Rest assured. The A&M System is part of the solution, not the problem,” Hurtado said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
University spokesman Laylan Copelin told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that the university had taken steps to stop “business with foreign entities,” citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Copelin also reiterated the institution’s commitment to protecting intellectual property, which Hurtado wrote was something that the federal government has “repeatedly recognized.”
“We take this stuff very seriously,” Copelin said, noting that the university had actually overreported its foreign donations to the Department of Education.
