Following the revelation that the Oculus founder Palmer Luckey donated to an alt-right nonprofit, the company's "diverse creators" aren't sure whether to accept funding.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images Palmer Luckey

This May, 100 virtual reality developers from around the country gathered at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus for a bootcamp in making software for the Oculus Rift. They were there as a part of the Launch Pad program, a fellowship designed “for diverse creators to build for VR.” After a long day of meetings, the final speaker was Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, wearing his trademark Hawaiian shirt. By keynoting the event, some attendees felt, Luckey was sending a message: The future of VR looked like them.

Now, four short months later, many of the Launch Pad fellows are reconsidering their involvement with the program after revelations that Luckey donated money to a pro-Trump nonprofit associated with the alt-right, the online political movement of trolls that sees offensive speech as a patriotic duty and views cultural diversity with disdain.



"I'm doing a Day of the Dead project. ... How can I promote that when the head of Oculus is giving money [to support] Trump?"

"The mood is surprise, shock, dismay, and disappointment," one Launch Pad fellow, a California-based producer, told BuzzFeed News. "A number of people are creating documentaries to address social issues, and they are questioning whether Oculus is the right platform." Announced in March, the Launch Pad program comprises the May bootcamp as well as the possibility of tens of thousands of dollars in funding for Oculus projects. In the announcement, the company encouraged "women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community and anyone who is willing to share how their perspective adds to the 'diversity of thought' in our community" to apply. The program also includes a community: a closed Facebook group set up for the fellows by in-house coordinators, where dozens of fellows are now sharing their anger and disappointment.

"Let me get this straight, the founder of Oculus thinks my sister should be banned from visiting me in the US because she's Muslim? And hates my husband because he's Jewish?" wrote one fellow. Alejandro Quan-Madrid, a Launch Pad fellow based in Los Angeles, said Luckey's political donations make him feel like a hypocrite. "I'm doing a Day of the Dead project and showing it at Day of the Dead festivals," he told BuzzFeed News. "How can I promote that when the head of Oculus is giving money [to support] Trump — and Trump wants people in my community to be deported?"



Apply to Launch Pad, a new program for diverse creators to build for VR. Deadline 4/8: https://t.co/IwGaK4XmFy