The University of Kentucky’s college of business has renegotiated a donation agreement that would have advanced Ayn Rand’s free market philosophy.
UK’s Gatton College of Business and Economics received $2.5 million in 2004 from BB&T towards renovations and the establishment of a program for the study of capitalism. However, in a new agreement signed in November 2014, Gatton College officials decided to remove several aspects of the original plan that would have tied the college to Rand.
The original agreement was to create a reading room named after the philosopher, and distribute free copies of Rand’s novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead to students.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that former BB&T CEO John Allison, who later served as president of the libertarian Cato Institute, used the BB&T Foundation to award numerous donations to colleges and universities, and require the study of Rand’s books in exchange.
Gatton College Dean David Blackwell negotiated the new deal with BB&T.
“There are lots of other philosophers to study for the moral foundations of capitalism,” Blackwell reportedly said. “She wasn’t even a very good philosopher.”
Under the new agreement, $2 million dollars will go towards the renovation including a BB&T quiet study room, and $500,000 will go towards establishing the BB&T Program for the Study of Capitalism. According to a news release, the program will “provide financial support for research, education and outreach programs to engage both the academic community and the public in a sustained examination of capitalism from economic, historical, legal and social perspectives,”
