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Friday, September 29, 2017
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Board of Trustees makes decision on naming of The Gianforte Academic Center by MARYIA SPIRYDONAVA Managing Editor
New Hoboken Park • P7
Cuisine Corner • P8
Sports • P10
As an expanding and growing school, Stevens Institute of Technology is in need of more space for students, staff, and faculty. The Gianforte Family Charitable Trust pledged $20 million in support of a new academic building. However, this donation was received with mixed emotions. Concerns were raised about the philanthropic record and public statements of Greg Gianforte, Class of 1983. A number of students were upset that a person who pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and whose philanthropic history did not show support of a diverse community was being honored by the school. After a lot of controversy over the naming of the building, in June 2017 the Board of Trustees appointed a Committee to Consider the Naming of the Gianforte Academic Center. The committee consisted of Stevens leaders—faculty, students,
Mayor candidate Ravi Bhalla speaks in front of Stevens College Democrats by NASIR MONTALVO Staff Writer
This past Thursday, Sept. 21 at 8p.m., the College Democrats at Stevens (CDS) had their second general body meeting with special guest Ravi Bhalla. Ravi Bhalla is a candidate for Hoboken’s Mayor, now that present Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s term is ending. This is an important election for Stevens, as the mayor elected will be the mayor the Class of 2021 sees for the rest of their time at Stevens. CDS is encouraging Stevens students and faculty to register to vote, not only for this election, but for
presentation, Ravi Bhalla entered with Bindya Bhalla, his wife. Ravi Bhalla opened the night’s discussion with some of his background, including why he decided to become more involved local politics. Bhalla states that, “things at the local level affect more your life rather than councilmen in Washington,” adding to why Stevens needs to go out and vote. Bhalla also opened up about his struggle being Sikh when he first immersed himself in the world of politics. Bhalla, however, did not let that faze him, as he believes people care more about being able to deliver on issues rather than identity, a philosophy which
garding the issue of naming the new academic complex after Greg Gianforte. Bhalla says he personally spoke to Stevens President Farvardin about the situation, saying it would not be acceptable if the building was named after someone who was against a certain race or gender, thus it should not be okay to name the building after someone anti-gay either. Besides that discussion with President Farvardin, he has also collaborated with Farvardin to create a “pipeline” between Stevens and Newell Brands to offer jobs for Stevens graduates. Before Bhalla left, he answered some questions from College Democrats mem-
alumni, trustees, and staff—and was chaired by alumnus and trustee J. Scott Swensen ‘74. On Sept. 28, a statement of the Board of Trustees Decision on the naming of the Gianforte Academic Center was released. “In light of all the facts and input considered by the Board and following extensive deliberations, the Board has given its full support to changing the name of the academic center from the Gianforte Academic Center to The Gianforte Family Academic Center.” The decision stated that the new name will acknowledge the principal legacy of Gianforte as a successful technology entrepreneur and of his parents, Dale and Frank Gianforte; Frank Gianforte was a mechanical engineer who worked in the aerospace industry. From the beginning of this discussion, it was made apparent that the donation was contingent on the naming of the building in honor of the Gianforte family. Howev-
er, the Board’s statement included a discrepancy. The “Work of the Committee” section states, “The Gianforte gift imposed no requirements or restrictions on Stevens’ programs or operations. The only agreement Stevens has made in accepting these gifts is to devote the funds to the building of an academic center and to provide naming recognition.” Yet, the “Board of Trustees Decision” section says “The University does not endorse any political, religious or other personal statements of a donor by accepting a gift or using the name of a person. In this case, the Gianfortes have asked nothing of the University other than that their funds be used to construct the academic center. Their gifts come with no restrictions or requirements which call into question Stevens’ policies or values.” This discrepancy raises the question whether the naming of the building was tied to the donation
or not. What is the reason for this contradiction in the same statement? Despite the reason behind the contradiction, the decision on the naming of the building appears to be final. The decision doesn’t appease the entire Stevens community, so Stevens leaders are focused on bringing the community together. Olivia Schreiber, Stevens Honor Board Chair, stated “As a student who served on the Gianforte Review Committee, I can attest that significant effort was put forth to ensure that all relevant stakeholders were addressed. Students, faculty, alumni, staff, and the greater Hoboken community will all interpret this decision differently, but my hope is that we coalesce, taking our differences with us, and continue to shape Stevens into a university we are proud to represent.” Thomas Daly, President of the Student Government Association,
see DECISION• Page 7
Women of Color Luncheon Series by MELINA DALLASTELLA Staff Writer
Despite being home to students of all different backgrounds for years, it was only recently that Stevens hired Jacquis Watters as the Diversity Educator in the Office of Student Affairs. Watters has been working hard to host Stevens’ first official Latinx Heritage Month and as a part of this effort, she hosted a Women of Color Luncheon on September 27th in the Fielding Room. Amidst chips, cookies, wraps, and much more, both students and professional staff reflected on how their experiences were shaped by being a woman of color on campus. “Stevens has plenty of women of color, we just aren’t meeting up,” Watters mentioned in her welcoming speech. This is what lead there to be a need for creating a space where women of color could gather together and exchange stories about their time here. After the opening speech,
Watters shared a video on Intersectionality in Feminism by Youtuber named Akilah Hughes, who goes by the name of Akilah Obviously on the internet. In the video, Hughes represented women as pizzas trying to get by in a world that is catered for burgers. She mentions that even though it’s harder for all pizzas to live in a burger world, it’s much easier for the cheese pizza than the deluxe pizza since cheese pizzas are virtually everywhere, while deluxe pizzas are much harder to find. This opened up to a discussion about what
Photo by Melina Dellastalla
kind of pizzas each one of us around the room would be. Other discussion questions included “How has your outward appearance shaped your racial identity?” “What have you experiences a time of liminality (a transitional period, the space between, etc) based on your racial identity” “Have you ever experienced erasure based on your identity?” There will be another Women of Color Luncheon on December 6th, as well as two other Men of color Luncheons on October 4th and November 29th.
Photo courtesy of Stevens College Democrats Facebook Page
New Jersey’s gubernatorial election as well. CDS has even put aside their differences with the College Republicans, and are working together with the Student Government Association to register the goal of 1870 Stevens voters in Hoboken. Shortly after CDS’s opening
seemed to work in his favor after being elected a council member alongside Mayor Zimmer with the highest number of votes. Bhalla has not only involved himself in the state of Hoboken’s affairs, but he has also made connections with Stevens as well, especially re-
bers and guests, including where his favorite place to eat pizza was: Benny Tudino’s. Candidate Ravi Bhalla encourages Stevens students to become involved in their community, closing the night with, “Don’t underestimate the kind of difference you can make.”
Photo by Melina Dellastalla