Since the start of 2023, Northeastern staff and faculty donated a total of $1.6 million toward various political action committees and candidates, 99% of which went to Democratic campaigns. In the same timeframe, five members of Northeastern’s Board of Trustees collectively donated more than $1.17 million to political groups and candidates — 99% of which went to Republican candidates and PACs, an analysis by The News found. 

The News used publicly available data provided by the Federal Election Commission, or FEC, to analyze where Northeastern employees and trustees’ political donations went in the leadup to the 2024 election, from Jan. 1, 2023 to Oct. 16, 2024. According to Massachusetts state law, every person whose contribution or contributions in aggregate equals or exceeds the sum of $200 within any calendar year must include their occupation and the name of their employer. 

Despite Northeastern employees giving the majority of donations to Democratic candidates and groups, members of the Board of Trustees heavily preferred Republican campaigns and causes.

Northeastern staff and faculty made a total of 7,518 individual transactions in the 21-and-a-half-month span to candidates and political action committees, or PACs, according to The News’ analysis. 

Of that sum, $1,588,962 went toward Democratic candidates and PACs. The most popular recipients of Northeastern employees’ donations were Harris for President, the ActBlue PAC and the Harris Victory Fund, bringing in a combined total of more than $1 million for the three Democratic organizations.  

Northeastern’s policy on partisan political campaign activity states that university employees can participate and donate to political campaigns as long as it is not on university time, using university resources or done in the name of the university.

Only $6,682 went to Republican candidates and organizations, and $8,471 went to independent or bipartisan organizations including campaigns for Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy and The Lincoln Project, an anti-Donald Trump Republican PAC. 

While Northeastern faculty and staff leaned Democratic in their contributions, five members of Northeastern’s 33-member Board of Trustees donated a combined $1,176,000 to Republican candidates and right-leaning organizations in the last two years. 

Northeastern’s Board of Trustees serves as the university’s governing body, appointing the president of Northeastern and approving Northeastern’s “mission, budget, policies, and significant changes to academic programs,” according to the university’s website. Additionally, the board “oversees the university’s finances and assets.”

Around $864,200 was donated by James J. Pallotta, a billionaire who graduated from Northeastern with a master’s degree in business administration in 1981 and is the chairman and managing director of Raptor Capital Management LP. Pallotta, who has served as a trustee since 2016, donated to Republican candidates Nikki Haley and Trump, as well as the Republican National Committee.

Pallotta’s contributions significantly increased the percentage of trustees’ donations that went to Republican organizations.

Amin J. Khoury, cofounder of B/E Aerospace and namesake of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences who graduated from Northeastern with a master’s of business administration in 1989, donated around $203,008 to organizations including the Trump 47 Committee, Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc. and the Republican National Committee. Khoury has served on the board since July 2018.

Alan S. McKim, vice chair of the board, CEO and chair of Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. and namesake of the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, donated around $109,723 to Republican presidential candidates and the Massachusetts Republican Party. McKim was appointed to the board in 2010.

Both Frances N. Janis, who graduated from Northeastern with a master’s degree in business administration in 1982 and is a senior partner at Pomona Capital, and Winslow L. Sargeant, managing director of S&T LLC, donated around $500 each to Democratic campaigns including the Harris Victory Fund and ActBlue.

The News was unable to either confirm or find contribution records for 28 members of the board through the FEC database, 10 of whom work outside of the United States, according to Northeastern’s website.