At NewAPPS we have been following the embrace of Ghaddafi oil money by LSE with interest ever since it became clear that Saif Gaddafi got a MA and Phd in philosophy from LSE (which it turns out were largely plagiarized). LSE commissioned an investigation, and the Woolf report has now been released to the public (thanks Jeroen Van Bouwel for the pointer). I have not read the whole report, but skipped to the conclusions, especially pp. 132-133, which offer astonishing detail about the lengths to which the philosophy department at LSE went to accommodate Saif and to ignore red flags about possible "outside assistance" he was receiving.
The philosophers come out looking as "idealists," who thought that exposing Saif to "Liberal values" would be beneficial (despite the fact that he was not considered a good philosopher--it is interesting how sons of dictators get to receive affirmative action). The report details considerable effort at providing remedial instruction to Saif by the philosophy department. (One cannot help but wonder if the lure of money didn't help people overestimate the potential here.)
Strikingly, the Government department at LSE showed more concern for academic standards or, perhaps, were more jaundiced about the whole situation; they repeatedly rejected Saif (despite the philosophers' efforts to get him admitted there).
Appendix 4 (pp 157-158) shows how nobody can be responsible for an offer of admission to do a PhD in philosophy at LSE.
The wider significance of the report is the light it throws on the sometimes desperate and morally complex fund-raising efforts for universities that try to grow their way to world-prestige and compete in the academic arms-races with better endowed competitors.
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