U. officials donate thousands to favorite 1992 canpaigners

If money is the mother's milk of politics, then the University is a supplier to the Washington dairy. According to Federal Election Commission records from January 1991 to July 1992, top University administrators gave thousands of dollars in personal campaign contributions to their favorite candidates. Topping the list of University-related contributors was University Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker, who donated $12,700 to several candidates and committees between October 1991 and July 1992. Shoemaker gave almost exclusively to Republican causes, topping his donations with a $5,000 contribution to the Republican National Committee. The lone Democrat to receive Shoemaker's money was Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Also supporting the GOP was fellow businessman and Wharton School Dean Thomas Gerrity who donated $8,000 from September 1991 to April 1992, including $5,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a group which allocates money and resources to Republican candidates for Senate. University President Sheldon Hackney and his wife, Lucy, gave $3,500 to national and local Democratic candidates from November 1991 to May 1992. Under Lucy's name, the couple donated $500 to Democratic Senatorial candidates Harris Wofford's re-election campaign in 1991 and $500 to Lynn Yeakel's campaign in 1992. In addition, they gave $1,000 to the "Clinton for President Committee." Under the president's name, the Hackneys donated $500 to Philadelphia-area Congressman Thomas Foglietta and $500 to Altoona-area Congressman John Murtha. Under Federal law, the most an individual can contribute to a campaign is $1,000 during the primary and $1,000 during the general phases of the campaign. The most an individual can donate to a national party committee -- such as the NRSC or Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- is $5,000. During an election cycle, at most, an individual can donate $25,000. All contributions over $100 must be reported to the FEC. The Hackneys said yesterday that their campaign contributions reflect their personal political beliefs and not any institutions to which they are connected. "Sheldon and I try very hard because of institutional affiliation to be publically non-partisan," Lucy Hackney, who is the head of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, said last night. "Our campaign contributions [are made] out of personal funds and personal interest." She added that President Hackney's pre-election endorsement of President-elect Clinton was "quite unusual" since neither Hackney usually publicly endorses a candidate. She added that although she and her husband had a personal relationship with Wofford, they did not publicly endorse him. She said that they support candidates, such as Wofford, that reflect their stance on the issues. "[He had] an agenda that would be good for Pennsylvania," she said. From 1988 to May 1992, the Hackneys backed only one Republican, former Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz, who was killed in a plane crash in 1991. "I have voted for Republicans in my past and probably will again," said Sheldon Hackney. "[Heinz] was an excellent senator." Sheldon Hackney said he gave money to Congressman Murtha because he "has been enormously helpful to the University of Pennsylvania." He added that Murtha, who chairs the Senate Appropriations sub-committee responsible for allocating defense-related research funds, has been helpful "over a long period of time" in helping the University secure these funds, as well as in other ways. "[He] sees the University as an asset for the state," Hackney added. Former University Executive Vice-President Marna Whittington also gave two contributions of $500 to Murtha, as well as two contributions of $250 to Foglietta.

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