The article on Nike abuses, especially as it pertains to the University of Oregon brought back some memories for me - I was actually there at the time. I was at the University of Oregon when the students held a protest to join a labor watchdog group whose acronym escapes me at the moment. It was supposed to monitor the conditions under which clothing with the U of O logo was manufactured, and since U of O is a Nike school - Phil Knight's alma mater, in fact - Knight started throwing his weight around. This was going on as plans to renovate the football stadium were going forward, with Knight as the largest individual donor. Over university president Dave Frohnmeyer's & Knight's objections, the U of O joined this watchdog group, and Knight immediately withdrew whatever amount he'd promised to help renovate the stadium. I can't think of how much it was offhand, for some reason I think it might be 30 million. A huge deal, a huge amount of money, whatever the number. So the U of O joined for a year, and then at the end of the year, Frohnmeyer withdrew the university from this watchdog group. Then Knight mysteriously reinstated the donation. It was a huge debate at the time - does donating that much money give you a right to dictate university policy? A lot of people thought he did have the right. It was an interesting lesson in capitalism.
what a creep. thanks for the info, jenna
Corporatism at its finest. Knight rules UO as his personal fiefdom, not to mention their lush campus west of Portland.
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