As if the slide to the Left by the Texas flagship schools of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas were not bad enough, there is new reports suggesting their endowments are being used to push liberal policies. The American Accountability Foundation found that both schools use the investment company UTIMCO to manage their endowments. The company then allocates assets to place like JP Morgan to then funnel through liberal agendas.
The five asset managers also include The Aperio Group, Cantillon, Generation Investment Management and GQC Partners. Valerie Munoz of Texas Scorecard says this is a problem for more reasons than one.
"They allocated their money to these groups, who have voted for shareholder resolutions that violate policies, and promote Leftist agendas," she says.
What exactly have they voted for along the way? Things like abortion rights, anti-fossil fuel movements, anti-gun movements, and of course, for DEI initiatives, or what they label as 'anti-racist' platforms.
The AAF found through freedom of information requests that these asset managers under UTIMCO voted 159 times in favor of 'woke' policies from 2022 to 2023.
All of this being said too, it is not just legally troubling, but it shows how little regard the schools have for both their money, and their students.
"These votes are political, and that violated the way endowment funds are meant to be used," she says. "They can only be used for things relating to the universities, they should not be political."
But it is not surprising, again, considering how far to the Left both schools have been leaning over the last decade.
They strongarm to get their way, to continue forcing a liberal agenda on people, who simply do not want it. Beyond just breaking laws altogether too, it shows the schools lack a little bit of financial competence.
"It is hard to tell if this was intentional, or if the schools truly did not know what was happening with their money," says Munoz.
Neither school has commented on the issues since the report was released.