University in St. Louis backs out of Target partnership over MN Forward gift

It terms of news impact, it’s but a blip, but word that a university is dropping a partnership with Target over the chain’s support of MN Forward, the PAC backing gay marriage foe Tom Emmer, raises a question: Will other entities — universities, art museums, orchestras — follow suit?

Via The Awl, we learn that administrators at Washington University in St. Louis ended a three-year relationship with Target following news that the company gave $150,000 to MN Forward. Writes the school’s student paper:

University administrators opted to cancel the Target After Hours Shopping Event—a nationwide program in which Target keeps various stores open after hours and provides transportation for college freshmen to shop and receive prizes. This was to be part of the First 40 Days series of events at Wash. U. for the incoming freshmen class.

The university is among 19 nationwide to get a five-star rating from Campus Pride for LGBT friendliness on campus.  “We need to walk the walk as well as talk the talk,” said Jill Carnaghi, associate vice chancellor for student affairs.

Target, of course, is well known for its philanthropic giving, and in the corporation’s hometown, its name goes on everything from the Twins stadium to a series of family orchestra concerts to museum free days to a named atrium at the University of Minnesota, to name a few. In a difficult economy, it’s hard to imagine nonprofits could afford to turn away funding if such pressure is applied by activist groups. Especially since some of these Target-supported groups — the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center (my former employer), to name two I’m familiar with — have had to cut budgets and staff in recent years.