Ensure institute's integrity

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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The State Board of Regents' decision late last month to establish the Harkin Institute for Public Policy at Iowa State University raised some eyebrows.

Critics, including some Republican leaders, feel it's not appropriate to name a public institute for a sitting U.S. senator.

We disagree that the move necessarily crosses ethical and legal boundaries, as some critics have claimed, and we think establishing the institute could have benefits to ISU, student scholarships and the state.

But in deciding to establish the public policy institute while Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat, remains in office, ISU leaders and Regents must ensure no ethical or legal lines are blurred.

They must clearly demonstrate the institute's value to students and be particularly diligent in assuring taxpayers that Sen. Harkin isn't exerting any undue political influence on the institute's activities and operation.

Information about donations and institute funding should be transparent. Even the appearance of conflict of interest must be avoided in order to protect the integrity of the institute, the university and the Regents system.

ISU officials asked Regents late last month for their approval of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy, which will house papers and memorabilia from Harkin's four decades in political office.

Their plan also is to hire professors and award fellowships to graduate students in the social sciences studying policy issues such as social welfare, agriculture, education and international development.

And while Harkin supporters say they plan to raise up to $10 million to get things started, with an endowment to cover much of the operation costs, ISU officials are adamant the institute will be nonpartisan. In that regard, they are much like other universities that have created and named public policy institutes after notable alumni - the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, the Pete V. Domenici Public Policy Institute at New Mexico State University and the Trent Lott Leadership Institute at the University of Mississippi, to name a few.

It's certainly appropriate for the school to be home to Harkin's considerable collection of primary political history documents. That collection should attract serious scholars conducting unbiased academic study of those issues, and will benefit public discourse.

That it's being established as Harkin's long political career continues is complicating, but the concern can be overcome with proper oversight and transparency.

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