$500-Million Challenge Gift Spurs ‘Angst’ at Ore. University

Nike chief Phil Knight’s $500-million challenge gift to Oregon Health & Science University is adding to faculty concerns over the institution’s mission and business model, according to The Oregonian.

State lawmakers, who are mulling the university’s request for $200-million in bonds that would count toward matching the Knight gift, received an unsigned letter last month, purportedly from two faculty members, alleging that the institution is using research funds to pay high executive bonuses.

Last year faculty members drafted and shared with the administration a statement of concern that the pursuit of mega-grants has diverted attention from education and basic science. Lawrence Furnstahl, the university’s chief financial officer, disputed the notion, saying, “These tremendous gifts allow us to have core facilities.”

“I think there’s been a lot of angst around the Knight challenge,” said Bonnie Nagel, a neuropsychologist and president of the university’s faculty senate, who supports the gift.