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| Photo from Billingsgazette.com |
The
state Board of Regents approved renaming Montana State University's computer
science department after Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte on
Friday.
University
officials said the Bozeman technology entrepreneur's family foundation pledged
a total of $8 million to MSU, $5 million of which will go toward an endowment
for the new Gianforte School of Computing.
Another
$2 million will go toward construction projects on the university's south
campus and $1 million for the current use of the computer science department.
The
regents unanimously approved the proposal on Friday during its meeting at
MSU-Northern in Havre.
Democrats
oppose MSU naming the school after Gianforte. Three legislators say they will
introduce a bill next year to bar naming buildings and schools after
candidates.
Students
from Montana State University lined up at the regents' meeting on Thursday to
comment on the gift from Greg and Susan Gianforte.
Most
students strongly objected to having a building on campus named after a man who
has also given money to the Family Research Council, a group idenfied by the
Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group with an agenda against people who
are LGBT. The group's leaders equate homosexuality with pedophilia, violence,
sexual assault and predatory behavior, according to their quotes posted on the
center's website.
Money
comes and goes, said Haley Cox, but values should hold steady. She noted that
MSU's mission includes encouraging diversity, and she urged the regents to turn
down the donation despite its generosity. See more at Billingsgazette.com
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