Rep. Bascom among lawmakers condemning IU organization

(LAWRENCEBURG, Ind.) – State Representative Garrett Bascom (R-District 68) is one of several lawmakers who are condemning an organization affiliated with Indiana University.

Lawmakers say IU's Muslim Philanthropy Initiative (MPI), a unit housed within the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, organized fundraising and training events with Hayat Yolu Association, which is an organization that allegedly provided material support to Hamas. 

The United States Department of the Treasury designated Hayat Yolu as a “sham charity” earlier this month. 

Treasury officials also claim Hayat Yolu was involved in Hamas’s international funding network and operated as a financial hub for the Muslim Brotherhood.

“These are not minor or technical allegations. They go to the heart of whether an Indiana public university lent its credibility, brand, and institutional resources to a foreign organization the federal government has now identified as part of a terrorist financing apparatus,” stated State Representative Andrew Ireland. 

According to public reporting, MPI has previously worked with Hayat Yolu on events designed to help Islamic NGOs “refine their fundraising strategies,” improve performance, and better advance their missions. 

The lawmakers also cited IU hosting Sami Al-Arian, who was convicted of conspiring to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to its campus in 2022.

“Indiana University is a public institution, and the people of Indiana have every right to know whether university personnel partnered with, trained, platformed, or accepted support from an organization that the federal government now says bankrolled Hamas,” Ireland said. 

Rep. Bascom and the other officials are calling for IU to open a formal investigation into MPI, disclose if any money was exchanged with Hayat Yolu, and identify any IU employee or representative that participated in the events.

“If IU has a credible explanation, it should provide it. If IU failed in its responsibilities, it should admit it and fix it,” officials added.