Valley donor's influence on Cal Poly questioned

Event changed after Harris officials bring up money.

Published online on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009

A Central Coast dust-up between prominent Valley beef businessmen and a public university is raising concerns over academic freedom and donor influence.

Top executives at Harris Ranch Beef Company threatened to pull $500,000 in pledges to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, after nationally known agribusiness critic Michael Pollan was invited to speak.

Campus officials acknowledge revamping the format of Pollan's Thursday appearance, but deny bowing to donor pressure.

Now, the Harris Ranch pledges remain in limbo as others question whether high-profile contributors unfairly influenced academics.

Craig Flanery, a representative of the American Association of University Professors in California, said donors seemed to be "using that money to grind up academic freedom.

"Clearly, there was pressure exerted and the program changed," he said.

University officials deny that donor pressure caused them to amend their plans.

The furor began after David Wood, chairman of Harris Ranch Beef Company and a Cal Poly alumnus, expressed concern over Pollan's appearance because of the author's criticism of large-scale production agriculture. The University of California at Berkeley journalism professor has attracted criticism from agri-business at other speaking engagements.

Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food," writes in support of healthful, natural foods and against corporate farms and highly processed food. He was hired to appear at a fundraising event and to give a separate campus lecture.

Last month, Wood told campus officials that he was rethinking his financial support.

As chairman of Harris Ranch Beef, Wood oversees one of the largest feed lots in California. The Coalinga operation contains thousands of beef cattle.

"He [Pollan] is very anti-beef, especially grain-fed beef raised the way we do things," Wood said Thursday.

"And my concern was that students be given both sides of an issue, not just one."

In a Sept. 23 letter, Wood urged Cal Poly's president, Warren Baker, to provide a more balanced presentation.

Pollan's speech became a panel discussion with two other speakers before a packed audience Thursday morning.

"As a result of my efforts and and that of many other fine people, they completely changed the format," Wood said. "And people were able to hear all sides of the issue, not just one."

David Wehner, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, acknowledged the change but wouldn't credit Wood.

Wehner said officials always had planned to follow Pollan's lecture at some point with a separate panel discussion. He couldn't pinpoint the timing, but said it was recently decided that the panel should immediately follow Pollan's lecture.

Pollan, according to Wehner, opted to join the panel rather than lecture.

There was no compromise of academic freedom, Wehner insisted. The specter of lost financial support "didn't prevent us from having Michael Pollan speak."

But Flanery, of the professor association, sees it differently. He also said the association is concerned that such pressure may occur more often as dwindling state budgets force institutions to lean more on private donations.

The academic community should set the tone -- not donors, he said. Faculty have the expertise and training "to determine what's going to be the most appropriate and stimulating discourse on campus," Flanery said.

Rich Saenz, president of the faculty union at Cal Poly, said the controversy raises questions that should be pursued.