CIA ESTABLISHING NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH UNIVERSITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100020040-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 40
• Publication Date: October 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100020040-4
ASSOCIATED PRESS
25 October 1985
CIA ESTABLISHING NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH UNIVERSITIES FILE ONLY
BY JANE SEAGRAVE
BOSTON, MA
Some Harvard professors were surprised this month to learn that a colleague
ad accepted CIA money for a conference on Islam and politics, but officials
t universities and at the spy agency say the CIA has been openly courting
cholars for years.
"About 10 years ago, we were mandated by Congress to go out into academia and
et third opinions - to maintain the vitality of our analysis, so that the CIA
oes not become myopic in its research," said Central Intelligence Agency
pokeswoman Patti Volz. "And, sure, we've been very, very active in doing this."
The agency's budget remains a secret, and Ms. Volz declined to say how much
t spends each year or who receives the money. But several universities said
they have received funds for research on subjects ranging from nuclear
proliferation to the Philippines to computer software.
University administrators contacted by The Associated Press said they see
nothing wrong with professors performing work for the CIA provided schools are
told in advance and the research isn't classified.
"We don't have bans against any agency so long as they don't infringe on the
right to publish in the open literature," said Robert M. Bock, dean of the
graduate school at the University of Wisconsin.
But the Oct. 10 disclosure that Harvard professor Nadav Safran, director of
the school's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, had accepted about $150,000 from
the CIA aroused several of his colleagues. The money included $45,700 for a
two-day conference on Islam and politics held last week at the school.
Seven faculty members associated with the center this week asked the
university to prohibit the center from taking any money from the CIA. They
argued that CIA funding is inappropriate in sensitive areas of study such as
the Middle East, where scholars must be free of what could be perceived as
special ties to the U.S. government.
Connections between the CIA and the center "may result in reduced access to
research sources, a suspicious or even.hostile attitude on the part of foreign
governments, academic institutions and individuals, and even the possibility of
physical harm," they said in a letter to A. Michael Spence, Harvard's dean of
faculty.
Most universities have written policies that lay out the conditions under
which professors may accept funds from any external source. Many require faculty
to get permission from a department chairman, dean or a special committee, who
review the grant to make sure it doesn't restrict professors from publishing
their research.
Spence has said Safran's error was in failing to notify the administration in
advance about the source of the money as required by Harvard guidelines, and
university officials say they are continuing to investigate the matter. Safran
said he did not report the source of the money because he received it as an
individual, not in his role as the center's director.
The CIA's financial stake in universities has grown noticeably in recent
years, says John Shattuck, vice president for governmental and public affairs at
Harvard.
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"There is certainly not less money flowing in," he said in an interview with
The Boston Globe. "I think the CIA has been trying to find an academic home
all over the place, and the trend has certainly been toward further
involvement."
But officials at several prominent universities said that while they have no
explicit prohibition against taking money from the CIA, they have accepted
few, if any, grants from the agency.
Yale University spokesman Walter Littell said the school has not accepted any
CIA money for at least a decade, although Yale's guidelines wouldn't rule it
out. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology currently has no CIA contracts,
although Provost John M. Deutsch said individual faculty members probably act as
consultants to the agency.
At the University of Michigan, James Lesch, director of research
administration and development, said $50,000 of the $160 million accepted last
year in sponsored research money came from the CIA.
We treat them as any other sponsors, but we will not accept something that
cannot be published or has undue delay in being published," he said.
Aside from Safran's contracts, Shattuck said Harvard now has only one CIA
grant for sponsored research: a $7,500 contract that gives the CIA a
subscription to a series of publications about computer technology and
information management.
But administrators acknowledge there are loopholes in school guidelines that
could permit faculty members to accept CIA money without the university's
knowledge. And they note the possibility that grants from other governmental
sources could be coming indirectly from the CIA.
"Although we've never uncovered anything like that, there's a possibility
that one doesn't know when one is accepting CIA money," said Michigan
spokesman Wono Lee.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100020040-4