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In an editors’ note in their latest issue, the Brown Political Review expressed pride at providing Brown’s only source of political commentary funded by the conservative megadonor Charles Koch.
“The founders of BPR identified a clear lack of political writing at Brown paid for by billionaire oil tycoons hellbent on pouring their wealth into reshaping American politics to reflect their extreme worldview,” wrote Edgar Flinkton ‘20, editor-in-chief of BPR. "We’ve filled that gap in the campus discourse ever since with the generous support of the Political Theory Project, which has accepted $3.2 million in donations from the Charles Koch Foundation to produce politically motivated scholarship touting the Kochs’ regressive libertarian ideology."
Flinkton emphasized that BPR’s future on campus looks bright, all thanks to the dedicated work of its writers and editors and the financial backing of the world’s 11th richest man, who has bankrolled climate denialism and increasingly polarizing Republican politicians for decades.
“We look forward to continued collaboration with the Political Theory Project, which has placed Brown in the top 20 colleges and universities in terms of funding from the Kochs’ extensive political network,” Flinkton continued, noting that with ongoing Koch donations totaling over $1.7 million since 2016, Brown receives more Koch funding than any school in the Ivy League. “For years to come, BPR will surely maintain its position as Brown’s sole platform for high quality political journalism subsidized by the same vast fortune that has fueled the radical right’s takeover of all sectors of government post-Citizens United and entrenched the insidious goals of slashing corporate taxes, deregulating markets, cutting social programs, and attacking climate science as permanent fixtures of American political discourse.”
Concluding his editors’ note, Flinkton encouraged any students interested in writing about politics on the Kochs’ dime to apply for BPR.
