Not only is Gina Raimondo the Governor of Rhode Island, but since 2014, she has been a member of the Yale University Board of Trustees and in both roles she is tied to “toxic gifts” from the billionaire Sackler family — owners of Purdue Pharma, a company being sued by the state of Rhode Island for its role promoting the opioid epidemic.
More than 1,000 Rhode Islanders have died of overdoses since Raimondo entered office — many of those deaths tied to opioid usage.
Equally, the Sacklers' donations are also sparking controversies and the Trustees are holding firm — Yale refuses to return the donations or remove the Sackler names from academic chairs or academic centers. Beyond Raimondo, the Trustees are a who's-who of American influence and wealth. Trustees include Joshua Bekenstein, a managing director of Bain Capital, Charles W. Goodyear IV, the president of Goodyear Capital Corporation, and Douglas A. Warner who served as chair of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
The Sacklers have endowed two professorships at the School of Medicine and funded the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences, among other gifts at Yale, according to the Yale Daily News.
“There’s no doubt that we have an opioid addiction crisis in this country,” said University President Peter Salovey told the Yale paper. “It is also clear that generosity from the Sackler family has funded issues core to Yale’s mission.”
Yale has received millions from the Sacklers and has refused to return the donations.
“And it was then, sitting alone in that musty chapel, when it hit me: to my left stood the Skull and Bones crypt , the secret windowless clubhouse for the country’s most exclusive private society, whose founder’s extended family had become the largest American merchants in the Indo-Chinese opium trade. And beyond the crypt stood Yale’s medical campus, which has received major gifts from the Sackler family, whose wealth comes largely from owning Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin. Purdue Pharma criminally misbranded that drug to make it appear harmless. The company pleaded guilty in 2007 and agreed to pay around $600m in fines,“ wrote Abrams.
“While Oxycontin had almost killed me, it had also helped build Yale’s vaunted Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences. So had every opioid addict in my little chapel meeting – so had every dope fiend in America,” Abrams added.
And Yale is not the only institution facing the issues tied to accepting donations from the Sacklers.
As GoLocal reported in July, a group of approximately 100 staged a protest at Sackler Museum at Harvard -- the group comprised of medical students and community activists are opposed to Harvard accepting donations from the family that owns Purdue Pharma -- the company that created oxycontin and is now being sued by the State of Rhode Island and multiple other states for illegally marketing the highly addictive drugs.
The "die-in" inside Sackler Museum in protest of its ties to a family the demonstrators say profited off the opioid crisis. "Protest underway at Harvard’s Sackler Museum over the family’s role in the opioid epidemic. Activists join medical students from @harvardmed in chanting “people over profits” and “shame on Sacklers.” Tweeted one of the protestors.
Related Slideshow: GoLocal Statewide Poll - FULL RESULTS, Conducted by Harvard’s Della Volpe Oct. 2018
Sponsor: GoLocal Prov
Sample: N=502 Rhode Island General Election Voters
Interviewing Period: October 5 – October 9, 2018
Directed by: John Della Volpe, Harvard University, SocialSphere, Inc.
Slideshow: responses are not in the order of the questionnaire
This question is about the total income of YOUR HOUSEHOLD for the PAST 12 MONTHS. Please include your income PLUS the income of all members living in your household (including cohabiting partners and armed forces members living at home).
What particular ethnic group or nationality - such as English, French, Italian, Irish, Latino, Jewish, African American, and so forth - do you consider yourself a part of or feel closest to?
When it comes to voting, do you consider yourself to be affiliated with the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, Moderate, or Unaffiliated with a major party?
In November, there will be a statewide general election for Governor and many other state offices. How likely is it that you will vote in this election? Will you definitely be voting, will you probably be voting, are you 50-50...
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Will ensure that we have high-quality affordable health care.
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Will make government more accountable to the people.
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Is committed to improving education in public schools.
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
Next is a series of qualities and attributes that candidates for Governor could possess. Which candidate for Governor does each attribute apply to most? [RANDOMIZED]
If the election for Governor were held today and the candidates were: [ROTATE] Democrat Gina Raimondo, Republican Allan Fung and Independent Joe Trillo, for whom would you vote?
Attorney generals in several states have begun investigating sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, opening investigations and issuing subpoenas for documents.
Do you favor or oppose the Rhode Island Attorney General opening an investigation into the Archdiocese of Providence on issues related to possible sexual abuse of children?
If the election for the U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were: [ROTATE] Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican Robert Flanders, for whom would you vote?
Recently, it was announced that state officials approved a fast-track regulatory review of Massachusetts based Partners HealthCare’s proposed takeover of Care New England, Rhode Island’s second-largest hospital system, and operator Women & Infants, Butler and Kent Hospitals. [RANDOMIZED]
Do you believe the quality of care for Rhode Islanders will:
Recently, it was announced that state officials approved a fast-track regulatory review of Massachusetts based Partners HealthCare’s proposed takeover of Care New England, Rhode Island’s second-largest hospital system, and operator Women & Infants, Butler and Kent Hospitals. [RANDOMIZED]
Do you believe the number of jobs available to Rhode Islanders will:
Earlier this year, legislation was filed in the General Assembly that would require that all Rhode Island public schools have a school resource officer on the premises -- if a school has over 1,200 students -- two school resource officers would need to be present.
Do you support or oppose expanding Rhode Island’s free college tuition program at the
Community College of Rhode Island to the state’s two four-year colleges so that the last two
years of tuition at Rhode Island College and URI would be free for those recent high school
graduates, who are in a solid academic standing, and on track to graduate in four years? It is estimated that the cost of the program would be $35 million.
Do you support or oppose an Educational Bill of Rights for students and parents in Rhode Island that includes:
1) The right to be taught by effective teachers.
2) The right not to be taught by teachers who, after due process evaluation, fail to meet standards established by state and local education officials.
3) The right to appropriate academic materials and resources.
4) The right to safe, clean and environmental-friendly school facilities.
5) The right to emotionally supportive schools that do not tolerate harassment, discrimination or abuse.
6) The right to attend a school where funding is based on student need with the goal of providing
access to adequate educational opportunities.
7) The right to a pathway out of a failing school.
8) The right to a fair, accurate and transparent assessment system that measures student
performance and need.
9) The right of parents to current and reliable information about their child’s progress and performance.