Can This Campus Be Bought?

In "Can This Campus Be Bought?," Jennifer L. Croissant (who has such an awesome name, by the way) explores the implications of companies giving financial "gifts" to universities and university departments. One of the major issues with this type of philanthropy is the fear that students will be seen simply as consumers, and that their identity as students and learners and intellectuals will be undermined by their identity as consumers. "For many students, to be a citizen is to be a consumer, and nothing more."

The other main issue with companies giving financial help to universities is that it is never a "no strings attached" gift. It is fair that the companies want a say in the direction of the research that they are funding, because, after all, they are paying for it. But it can also limit students and faculty to do research about things they really want to study. This is a tricky issue for me to figure out how I feel about it, because I can see where both sides, the companies and the universities, are coming from. The universities want to have the freedom to make their own decisions, but they also need the funding from the companies. The companies want some benefits in exchange for all the money they are putting in. As for now, I'm not quite sure how I feel about this issue.