Bernstein withdraws $ rather than have his donation named after a black man at U of M

[belleislerunner]

Thought this was rather interesting, and shockingly racist.

Mark Bernstein donated $3 million to Univ of Michigan to allow them to build a new hall. This week, when he found out it would bear the name of a black man, the only building on campus to do so, he withdrew his gift. Embarrassing.

https://www.philanthropy.com/article...d-Chair/237223

[ekleezy]

Not sure I believe it, but in this article he claims he withdrew because they didn't actually need his 3 million.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...nter/87439088/

[middetres]

No matter Mark Bernstein's explanation [[which smacked of paternalism), the optics on this are terrible. My very first reaction was if he and his wife were sincere about the donation, then they shouldn't have cared about the building's carrying their names. Standard U of M procedures be damned, you don't have to accept naming rights for your donation. I'm sure they could have put a plaque on the capstone saying that the building was financed through the generous donation of Mark Bernstein and Rachel Bendit. To withdraw the donation just looks egotistical at best and condescendingly racist at worst.

[Gistok]

No belleislerunner, what this is... is the way donorships work in the 21st century... whether it's the Boll YMCA, the Taubman Center for the CCC, the Michael Ilitch School of Business, the downtown Skillman Library, the Max, or any of a bazillion Carnegie Libraries around the country.

Donors like to donate... and the institutions they donate to show their appreciation with naming rights. The new building in question was going to share the naming rights with the only African-American named building at U of M. But people were having a problem with that. So the donors aren't doing anything racist [[nice try at spinning that though)... they're going to probably let the U of M pay for it so there's no confusion or controversy [[such as you're showing).... and just donate for another project at U of M. They are not backing out for any racial reason, but to avoid the kerfuffle that you seem to have done a good job of starting right here on this forum.

Donors like to leave a legacy for the public good... and that often includes having their name on a building as a testament to the donors long after they are gone from this earth.

They saw the quagmire that the shared naming rights issue would cause... and decided to avoid the hassle by putting their money elsewhere.

If they were racist... they wouldn't have bothered with donating to this particular building to begin with.

[313WX]

No matter Mark Bernstein's explanation [[which smacked of paternalism), the optics on this are terrible. My very first reaction was if he and his wife were sincere about the donation, then they shouldn't have cared about the building's carrying their names. Standard U of M procedures be damned, you don't have to accept naming rights for your donation. I'm sure they could have put a plaque on the capstone saying that the building was financed through the generous donation of Mark Bernstein and Rachel Bendit. To withdraw the donation just looks egotistical at best and condescendingly racist at worst.

Yep, especially the bolded.

[Wesley Mouch]

Yep, especially the bolded.

The biggest impediment to the end of racism is calling people racist based on subjective assumptions.

Do try so hard to find racism in every corner, or you're no better than McCarthy.

[Hypestyles]

Give the money to me. Help me out, Mark.

[softailrider]

Give the money to me. Help me out, Mark.

Ill take some too, any denomination will work.

[Honky Tonk]

Give the money to me. Help me out, Mark.

Give me the money, Mark, and I'll change my handle from Honky Tonk to M. Bernstein.

[Zacha341]

Call Lee FREE!

[mwilbert]

Thought this was rather interesting, and shockingly racist.

Mark Bernstein donated $3 million to Univ of Michigan to allow them to build a new hall. This week, when he found out it would bear the name of a black man, the only building on campus to do so, he withdrew his gift. Embarrassing.

https://www.philanthropy.com/article...d-Chair/237223

That is not what the article said. The article said that the building already bore the name of a black man. The problem was that name might have been removed or made less prominent as a result of the gift, and to avoid that they decided not to make the gift.

After announcing the donation in April, "we spent time with faculty, students, staff, and alumni who shared with us their sense of loss and who expressed their fear that the only African-American name on a building at U-M would be diminished or erased,” Mr. Bernstein said at a board meeting Thursday. “This was, of course, not our intention, but it could have been the result." He said the couple will seek out other ways to support multiculturalism on campus

[313WX]

The biggest impediment to the end of racism is calling people racist based on subjective assumptions.

Do try so hard to find racism in every corner, or you're no better than McCarthy.

Read the post I agreed to again.

I didn't call him racist, but just realistically pointing out the poor optics of his actions and how others would perceive them, even if they're not true [[because when you're dealing with humans, perception is the only reality).

[Honky Tonk]

Read the post I agreed to again.

I didn't call him racist, but just realistically pointing out the poor optics of his actions and how others would perceive them, even if they're not true [[because when you're dealing with humans, perception is the only reality).

If you're a hack reporter looking to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or have been raised to find racist motivation in every last blessed thing that moves, this story is the result.

[313WX]

If you're a hack reporter looking to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or have been raised to find racist motivation in every last blessed thing that moves, this story is the result.

It is what it is when you're a public figure.

Everything you do will be scrutinized [[fairly or unfairly).

It's unreasonable to expect otherwise.

[Honky Tonk]

It is what it is when you're a public figure.

Everything you do will be scrutinized [[fairly or unfairly).

It's unreasonable to expect otherwise.

It's also too damn bad that sheeple have come to expect and accept this type of "reporting", accept it as the norm, and scrutinize everyone and everything with this type of mindset. [[present company accepted, of course)

[One Shot]

Why would he want to offend his imagined-injury client base?

[Honky Tonk]

Call Lee FREE!

Know your rights!

[Wesley Mouch]

Read the post I agreed to again.

I didn't call him racist, but just realistically pointing out the poor optics of his actions and how others would perceive them, even if they're not true [[because when you're dealing with humans, perception is the only reality).

And Mr. 313, when did you stop beating your wife?

[Zacha341]

LOL! That looks like Donatella Versace!

Know your rights!

[313WX]

It's also too damn bad that sheeple have come to expect and accept this type of "reporting", accept it as the norm, and scrutinize everyone and everything with this type of mindset. [[present company accepted, of course)

It's always been the mainstream news media's job to scrutinize public figures [[albeit by presenting all perspectives and objective facts to its audience in order for them to reach their own conclusions).

I'll be more afraid when they don't, such as when they didn't for nearly 2 years with the Flint Water Crisis.

[Honky Tonk]

LOL! That looks like Donatella Versace!

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...oumana-kayrouz

[MSUguy]

That is not what the article said. The article said that the building already bore the name of a black man. The problem was that name might have been removed or made less prominent as a result of the gift, and to avoid that they decided not to make the gift.

I'm not sure how anyone could read that article and think their actions were racist.

[Zacha341]

Ohh my......!

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...oumana-kayrouz

[Scottathew]

Thought this was rather interesting, and shockingly racist.

Mark Bernstein donated $3 million to Univ of Michigan to allow them to build a new hall. This week, when he found out it would bear the name of a black man, the only building on campus to do so, he withdrew his gift. Embarrassing.

https://www.philanthropy.com/article...d-Chair/237223

The article you provided says the opposite of your racism cry.

Mark Bernstein wants to donate a large sum of money. If he does that, he wants his name on the damn building.

His donation was going to replace a multi-cultural center. The old one is named for a black person. This new one would be named for Bernstein. The current multi-cultural center is the only building named for a black person.

Bernstein withdrew his donation so the university could name it for someone else, who will presumably be black.

There is no controversy here. No matter what he does, you won't like it and will call it racist.

If he donated and the old building, named for a black person was bulldozed and replaced by one named for Bernstein, you'd be crying racism too.

[rex]

? Check your glasses.