Since leaving office in January, former Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has been a generous donor to the University of Alabama — with other people’s money.
That is, excess campaign funds.
In addition to the $5 million Shelby for U.S. Senate gave to the university in April, the campaign committee added $100,000 and $50,000 donations in the third quarter of this year, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Raw Story.
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Such transfers of campaign funds to non-profits are perfectly legal, but as Raw Story examined in depth earlier this year, critics of the practice say politicians often take donated money meant to advance a political point of view and instead create “Monuments to Me” to burnish their legacy.
That often comes in the form of a building at a university carrying the politician's name. The university leadership then praises and thanks the politican publicly and effusively. The donation isn't altruistic, though, because the politician is using money donated to his or her campaign. It is money that cannot be used legally for personal expenses.
In February, the University of Alabama’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the Shelby Institute for Policy and Leadership, which will be home to the former senator’s papers. Alex House, a school spokesperson, said the $5 million donation from Shelby’s excess campaign funds would go to the institute.
If Shelby’s former donors are classical music fans, they’ll be happy to hear that, according to House, the $100,000 donation is going to university’s opera and the $50,000 donation to the symphony orchestra program.
Shelby also reported a $34,167 payment to O’Connor Art Studios of Cherokee Ridge, Ala. The report said it was for “art work,” but did not describe charitable purpose.
Nathan Rhone, treasurer for Shelby for U.S. Senate, did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment. Caleb O’Connor, co-owner of the studio, did not respond to a request for comment.
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Last November, Shelby used excess campaign money to make a $4 million donation to Georgetown University, where his wife is an emerita professor. The money established the Annette N. Shelby Endowed Chair in Business & Leadership Communication and the Annette N. Shelby Endowed Fund for Leadership Communication.
Annette Shelby was quoted in the student newspaper, The Hoya, as saying of her husband, “He had some money left, and he felt that Georgetown had been such a wonderful place for me and had given me many opportunities. He wanted to show that, and he also wanted to leave some kind of legacy for me as well.”
As a senator from 1987 to 2023, Shelby had a reputation for delivering earmarks, or “pork,” to constituents. Citizens Against Government Waste named him Porker of the Month in February of this year.
In 2016, AL.com reported, Shelby’s Republican challengers charged that it was unethical for the senator to direct millions of taxpayer dollars to buildings that were then named for him. The story said university leaders and the Shelby campaign told the newspaper that Shelby “did not request his name be put on the buildings or made the namings a condition of him securing the money.”
But his name happens to be all over buildings and endowments in Alabama higher education.
The University of South Alabama has “SHELBY HALL” inscribed over columns at its engineering and computer science building.
Auburn University has the Shelby Center for Engineering Technology — with the name inscribed over columns leading to the entrance. It opened in 2007.
The University of Alabama-Birmingham has the Shelby Biomedical Research Building.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville has a Shelby Center for Science and Technology.
The University of Alabama’s flagship campus at Tuscaloosa has Shelby Hall. “SHELBY HALL” is inscribed above columns that lead to a rotunda at the pentagon-shaped building, one of the largest buildings on campus.
Before the Shelby Institute for Policy and Leadership was named, the senator secured a $10 million earmark to fund it.
Shelby also directed a $100 million earmark to the university that became the Shelby Endowment for Distinguished Faculty.
Finis St. John, System Chancellor for the University of Alabama, praised Shelby when the university announced both initiatives in February.
“Sen. Shelby has already improved countless lives through his commitment to teaching, research and service, and through these two initiatives, his legacy will forever positively impact our students and our state,” St. John said.
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