Universities must be forced to disclose where millions in secret funding comes from, a coalition of more than 120 leading academics, transparency campaigners and politicians has said, amid concerns that anonymous donations from authoritarian countries where academic freedom is under threat are a front for reputation laundering.
As reported by the Times, political parties are under pressure to intervene after an investigation found that more than £281 million of anonymous donations have been made to Russell Group institutions since 2017.
Documents obtained by the investigative website OpenDemocracy also found that vice-chancellors had privately lobbied the government to keep the names of wealthy foreign donors hidden to shield them from scrutiny.
The revelations have prompted professors from universities including Oxford, Cambridge, the LSE, Exeter, Bristol, UCL and Manchester to express their concern that donations could be used for money laundering and “reputation laundering”.
In an open letter to Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, they said: “Due to the difficult financial climate, universities have increasingly found it necessary to seek large amounts of money from private donors. These include wealthy individuals and big businesses, including many from overseas. But this is often shrouded in secrecy.
“Anonymous donations have often come from authoritarian countries where academic freedom is under threat. Yet there is currently no requirement for universities to be transparent — creating a real risk of money laundering and reputation laundering.”
The letter also warns that the integrity of universities could be “severely undermined” without efforts to improve transparency, which is “vital because of the potential influence that donors may have” over academic courses.
The Department for Education said: “While universities are autonomous, they should consider the ethical implications of any donations they are offered including on their duties regarding free speech and academic freedom.
“The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act gives the Office for Students powers to monitor overseas funding and require universities to provide details of gifts, donations, research grants and other income from overseas which is over a set threshold.”
