Posted on 04/03/2003 9:16:45 AM PST by Jeff Head
Some alumni donors are pressuring the president's office and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations to fire Professor Nicholas De Genova for statements he made in last week's anti-war teach-in.
In the past few days, donors have barraged the offices with emails and phone calls, informing the University that they feel that De Genova overstepped the limits of academic free speech.
In mass-mailed email messages circulated among each other, alumni have urged each other to issue an ultimatum to the University: Fire De Genova or lose our donations.
"We've gotten a lot of calls," said Thomas Gray, who is in charge of alumni giving in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. "The people who have called have been very upset. They're proud of their college heritage, and they're very unhappy that this occurred."
CC alumnus Steve Stuart wrote an email a few days ago to over 100 alumni--whose combined "net worth," he said, is at least $250 million--asking them to express outrage to University President Lee Bollinger.
"Until he is fired, the University will suffer," Stuart said. Many of those alumni responded to Stuart's request with letters sent directly to Bollinger. Like Stuart's, nearly all of the emails issued warnings regarding the alumni's continued financial support of the University.
Frank Cicero, CC '92 and Senior Vice President of Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers, told Bollinger that he felt De Genova's presence on campus "pollutes the educational atmosphere."
That "pollution" may compel Cicero to stop contributing to the University.
"In the past, I believed that it was naive and in bad taste for alumni to withhold gifts because of the political opinions of faculty members," Cicero said in his email to Bollinger. "However, I am now considering doing just that in response to the vile and mendacious comments made by De Genova."
Donor Peter Ross, CC '87, MBA '94, and a member of the Ivory Capital Group, told Bollinger that De Genova's comments made him ashamed of the University.
"This will weigh heavily on my heart at the end of the year when I consider the financial sacrifice that I am willing to make for the University," Ross wrote.
For other alumni, the controversy has become a family matter. Vincent Butkiewicz, CC '79 and MBA '85, promised Bollinger that he would cancel the donation he made in a recent fund drive, assuring him that "you should not expect to see any donations from me nor an application for admission from any of my children until Prof. De Genova has been fired."
Peter Butkiewicz, CC '85, sent a nearly identical email. And their father, John Butkiewicz, CC '51 and a former member of the U.S. Army, informed Bollinger that he was revising his will to exclude Columbia.
If you haven't already. Join us on this. Go to this thread and use post number 60 and cut loose on these anti-Americans yourself. Then pass the word to all you know asking them to do likewise, that is, send their thoughts on to Columbia and then spread the word to all they know ... and so forth and so on.
It's about damn time that these left-wing pinkos find out what the true "average" American thinks and feels. :--))
My impression of the editors at the Spectator is that they are pretty liberal themselves. They are going to do whatever they can to paint this a certain way.
But the news here is not that people continue to send funds to Columbia ... that has been going on a long time. The news is that more and more are indicating they will stop donating over this issue. Any of them who were donating and then stop represent a big black eye to the University ... and the more the better until this cretin is fired.
Hope that helps.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.
To quote a Freeper:
"I didn't live in Canada -- I lived in Alberta."
--- Alberta's Child.
LOL. :-)
If he truly repents ... fine, but he can make his amends on the other side of Jordan. His infamy needs to follow him and hound him to insure that any such repentance is genuine, and in the more likely circumstance, to keep his unrepentant self from ever repeating this episode.
Former professor Al-Arian and 7 others arrested by FBI on terrorism charges.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.