PND (4/25/2000) -- Nike Chairman Cancels $30 Million Gift to Alma Mater

The University of Oregon will not receive a planned $30 million gift from Nike chairman Phil Knight because the school recently joined a factory-monitoring organization that has disagreed with the findings of Nike's in-house monitoring group, the New York Times reports.

The gift from Knight, an Oregon alumnus and longtime supporter of the school, had been pledged to help fund the expansion of Autzen Stadium, a project with an expected cost of $80 million. The university's involvement with the Workers Rights Consortium, a student-backed monitoring group, upset Knight, whose sports apparel company is a member of the Fair Labor Association. In announcing the cancellation of the gift, Nike spokesman Vada Manager said, "We object to the Workers Rights Consortium because it does not provide a seat on the table for companies. Another issue is it has a 'gotcha' monitoring system, which in our minds is not a serious way to achieve the common goal that we all want to achieve, which is to eradicate sweatshop conditions."

In a recently released report, Nike was criticized by a coalition of labor, student, and human rights groups for moving much of its production in China, a country that prohibits independent unions. Students at dozens of campuses across the U.S. have recently engaged in protests and sit-ins in order to encourage their schools to join the WRC and to condemn the Fair Labor Association, which, activists claim, is dominated by corporations.

FCnote: The Nike P.L.A.Y. Foundation (OR) had assets of $1,220,505 and made grants totaling $1,377,998 in the fiscal year ending 5/31/98.

Greenhouse, Steven. "Nike's Chief Cancels a Gift Over Monitor of Sweatshops." New York Times 4/25/2000, p. A16.

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