LAURELS AND DARTS We dart the University
for failing to provide sufficient help to student-mothers. see opinions, page 6
DRAG SHOW Demarest Hall highlights the most
FOOTBALL Rutgers travels to No. 14 Penn State on
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$34 million Zimmerli donation represents largest gift to U. Kira Herzog News Editor
The Zimmerli Art Museum attained a new level of international prestige today after Rutgers announced the single largest gift in University history. Valued at more than $34 million, the gift is comprised of 17,300 pieces of Soviet artwork, created during the mid-to-late-20th centur y. The high profile collection will be accompanied by a $10 million endowment to the Zimmerli, intended to promote global access to the art through exhibitions, publications, conser vation and scholarship. Nevin Kessler, the president of the Rutgers University Foundation, said this donation makes the Rutgers museum the world’s principal site for studying the art produced by the USSR across four decades of authoritarian leadership. “Any institution would have been overjoyed to receive this unparalleled collection of artworks, with the endowment to make them accessible in perpetuity to scholars and the public,” Kessler said. “The choice of Rutgers reaffirms the donors’ longstanding commitment to this university while testifying to the outstanding work our curators and Valued at more than $34 million, the Zimmerli’s newest collection of Soviet artwork is comprised of 17,300 pieces from the mid-late 20th century. The collection, donated by art collector Nancy Dodge, expands on artwork she donated to the University in 1991. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
See history on Page 4
Leaked documents reveal Rutgers invests funds in offshore accounts ALEXANDRA DEMATOS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Mazen Adi, an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science, allegedly has ties to the Syrian regime led by President Bashar al-Assad. LINKEDIN
Adjunct professor allegedly has ties to Syrian regime Chloe Dopico Associate News Editor
An adjunct professor at Rutgers allegedly has ties to the Syrian regime accused of numerous human rights violations led by President Bashar al-Assad.
Mazen Adi, an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science, joined the faculty at Rutgers University in 2015, said University spokesperson Neal Buccino in an email to The Daily Targum. See regime on Page 4
The recently leaked Paradise Papers revealed that Rutgers is among the top U.S. universities using offshore funds to grow their endowments and pay little to no tax, The Guardian reported Wednesday. Rutgers is among more than 100 universities that were named in the millions of leaked documents from Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm which specializes in offshore accounts such as private equity and hedge funds in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The University was also revealed to have been among universities investing in EnCap Energy Capital Fund IX-C, a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund that primarily invests in oil and gas companies, according to NJ Advance Media. Schools have increasingly been turning to secretive offshore investments that let them grow their endowments with “blocker corporations, and avoid scrutiny of ventures
involving fossil fuels or other issues that could set off scrutiny,” The New York Times reported. The University has been making public strides to create a greener campus, particularly through the Rutgers 2030 Physical Master Plan, which includes updates to campus transit hubs, housing, student centers and athletic facilities. The plan is built on a strong environmental foundation, from the perspective of protecting an open space, Frank Wong, assistant vice president of University Facilities and Capital Planning and University planner previously told The Daily Targum. The EnCap Energy Fund IX-C is part of EnCap Investments, which “has been the leading provider of venture capital to the independent sector of the U.S. oil and gas industry,” and has raised “20 institutional oil and gas investment funds totaling approximately $33 billion and currently manages capital on behalf of more than 350 U.S. and international investors,” according to its site.
VOLUME 149, ISSUE 106 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • arts & entertainment ... 8 • Diversions ... 10 • SPORTS ... BACK
Rutgers endowment assets totaled $1.2 billion as of June 30 of this year, a 12.4 percent gain on its long-term investments over the last year, according to NJ Advance Media. Blocker corporations cost the United States Treasur y millions of dollars, The New York Times reported. They are legal, but are increasingly under the scrutiny of the public eye — a “trio of tax breaks,” including tax breaks given to those who donate to colleges, generally done by the wealthy, tax-free municipal bonds allowing schools to borrow money at low rates, and endowment investment returns that are generally tax-free, cost federal taxpayers $19.6 billion a year. In-state students at Rutgers can expect to pay approximately $14,638 in tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 academic year, an all-time high that was the result of a 1.85 increase in tuition and fees that was approved See ACCOUNTS on Page 4