Florida State University finds itself mired in an embarrassing position as a result of the apparently Faustian deal it cut with the Charles G. Koch Foundation to allow Koch to fund and approve faculty positions in its economics department. Hardly academic freedom’s and integrity’s finest hour in Tallahassee. We’re now seeing scathing references to “FSU: For Sale University.”
Which certainly puts Steve Spurrier’s Seminole taunt from 1994 into context. To recap: the NCAA investigated FSU (and four players were suspended) about an after-hours shopping spree by some FSU football players–arranged by agents–at a Tallahassee Foot Locker store.
Spurrier rhetorically pounced and told the Polk County Gator Club that FSU stood for “Free Shoes University.” A funny, skewering line by an in-state rival. FSU officials felt it was a cheap shot.
But “For Sale University,” to be sure, is not coming from rival football coaches entertaining their boosters. FSU President Eric Barron should be more upset with dubious private foundation access than with the media calling attention to an ethical slippery slope.