From an editorial in Crains Chicago Business:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rw2ifctZIpUJ:www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160331/OPINION/160339964?template=printart+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
A snapshot from Chicago: In the past few weeks, as faculty and staff at Chicago State University reviewed their pink slips, and those at Northeastern Illinois University learned about mandatory furloughs amounting to 20 percent pay cuts, University of Chicago announced a $35 million gift from the founder of an investment firm to establish a “new think tank to research urban issues.” It received another $10 million dollar donation from the Pritzker family to fund “Urban Labs” that will support research addressing the “big challenges cities face.”
In fact, these donations are one of the challenges. Another is what can only be termed “wealth-hoarding” by private universities.....
Our modest proposal, then, is that the University of Chicago and similarly well-endowed private institutions should share their assets with Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois and other struggling public schools. Our students are incredible. They can also conduct exemplary research and can offer the best solutions and policies for the communities in which they live.
Or, better yet, why not nationalize the private universities so that all students in Chicago, from all communities, can benefit from their excellent resources?
Research isn't necessary to understand that sharing, not hoarding, is central to solving the “urban problems” of the day.
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