CMU employees have given nearly $7000 to campaigns, PACs
At least sixteen employees of Central Michigan University have given $6,850 to political action committees, candidates and political parties so far in the 2012 election cycle.
According to OpenSecrets.org, a website that tracks campaign finance, twelve employees, including University President George Ross, gave to Friends of Central Michigan University, a PAC that collects donations from CMU employees and others to give to candidates from both parties and other political causes.
Four other CMU employees gave to different groups and campaigns, including President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the American Physical Therapy Association.
Sarah Opperman, CMU Board of Trustees vice chairwoman and former vice president of Dow Chemical, contributed $500 each to the Friends of CMU and the Midland County Republican Committee. She said her contributions aren't partisan.
"My political involvement, including any contributions, is based on supporting those who I respect and whose views generally are aligned," Opperman said in an email. "I have supported both Republican and Democratic candidates. The contribution to the Midland GOP in my community, where I have lived 20-plus years, helps to support many candidates and programs."
In 2008, Friends of CMU gave $1,000 each to Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., $500 to Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., and $250 to Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.
Kathy Wilbur, vice president of development and external relations also gave to Friends of CMU, contributing $500. Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Sam Kottamasu donated $300, while Renee Walker, associate vice president of university communications, and Barrie Wilkes, associate vice president of financial services & reporting and controller, gave $250 each.
In 2010, the PAC gave to Camp and several groups and state-level candidates from both parties. In 2011, Friends of CMU contributed to the the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, Republican state Rep. Kevin Cotter's campaign, and the House Republican Campaign Committee, along with the CMU Bookstore.
Friends of CMU has $12,148 on hand to spend as of Dec. 31, 2011, the date of the last report.
Journalism professor John Hartman, an Ohio resident and Democrat, contributed $500 to the Democratic Party of Ohio.
"I occasionally give to federal campaigns," Hartman said in an email. "I made a donation to the re-election campaign of Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. I expect to make a donation to President Obama's re-election campaign."
Hartman said his contributions to Democrats have not always worked out for him. He made two $500 donations to former Gov. Jennifer Granholm's campaigns only to be disappointed.
"(I hoped) that she would appoint CMU trustees who care first about students and faculty," Hartman said. "Unfortunately, she appointed trustees from the elite strata who care more about building projects ... than students and faculty. She created the present mess we are in. What a joke of a governor she was."
Campaign finance has become a major political issue this election cycle, the first presidential election since the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision in 2010, which prohibited the government from restricting political expenditures by corporations and unions.
