We all have a duty to nurture and protect the glorious history and the marvelous campus of this fine university. We do that to honor those who have come before us, many carrying huge sacrifices to establish our fine institution.
Whether it is placing a new School of Business complex in an inappropriate setting or allowing for lack of opposition to a foreign held corporation (Terra Firma/Ever Power/Allegany Wind) and its nefarious plans to supplant the gorgeous scenic beauty of the Chipmonk Valley and Merton’s Heart with a field of monstrous and imposing windmills, we are endangering the legacy that was entrusted to us. This corporation could care less about the extremely negative scenic and environmental impact on one of the most beautiful campuses in America. They only are interested in making a quick profit and collecting massive federal tax credits. They are, in fact, just a new breed of robber barons, only this new incarnation is foreign-based.
Tyler Diedrich’s Feb. 10 editorial was shallow at best, and at worst it was no more that an apology for corporate greed. Remember that when (he) started here as a freshman (in 2008), unscrupulous and corrupt bankers and their elicit trading in worthless bonds and commodities nearly destroyed the American economic system as we know it. This country was nearly sent into the abyss of the catastrophic depression, from which it would have been very difficult to recover. Those consequences could have endangered this great university and its endowment. Only clear and steady relief from Presidents Bush and Obama saved this nation from catastrophe.
While those who give millions of dollars to our campus projects need to be praised and thanked for their efforts, we also need an open and continuing dialogue with regards to the subject of basic business ethics. We need only to remember the ethical meltdown of Enron or Adelphia and many others to see the need for continuous training in fields of business honesty and ethics.
As trustees of Franciscan principles embodied at this treasured place, we need to stand proudly and forcefully oppose those proposals which will generate decades of ill will and recriminations upon the fantastic accomplishments of Saint Bonaventure University. We need to re-site the School of Business complex to a scenic-friendly location and to wage an all-out battle to halt the scenic and environmental degradation about to take place just to the south of our campus.
How we respond to these serious challenges will frame our own legacies as alumni, students, faculty and administrators.
All the best,
Craig E. Speers, SBU ‘72
