Seems tacky to diminish Carmelo’s name in order to aggrandize your own. If Lally contributed to the overall complex, how does that minimize what Carmelo did years ago for that specific facility? Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I thought Carmelo’s contribution helped build the place. That hasn’t changed. Isn’t there a difference between that versus ‘commercial naming rights?’ Sincere question: did Carmelo’s $3M have a time period attached to it?
For a communications school, we have long had incredibly tacky aesthetic schemes. Just ugly stuff. I totally get the interest in donating and getting yourself ‘immortalized’ by having your name on a building. But, for chrissakes, do it with some manner of taste and elegance.
I’ve always appreciated the Jewish tradition, where donating anonymously is the highest form of philanthropy. But, the times, they be a changing’. Unfortunately, toward the vulgar. Hell, I’ve often daydreamed about making a billion dollars and going back to SU to build some stuff and put my parents’ family names on them. To pay tribute to them. And I can guarantee that if that should happen, those names would not be visually ‘squawked.’
Are we not supposed to react to this because it was Etan who posted about it? Can’t it be worth conversation (ir-)regardless?
It’s getting to be quite difficult to maintain a sense of pride with this school. Tumbling academic rankings, the Lally v Weitzman thing, this Lally ego aesthetic, the Red vs Parents, Red vs ex-Players thing, the retiring chancellor, the AD’s laissez faireness with the basketball coach, DC vs the AD…. For so many years, I was happy to say I was a Syracuse alum. Feels like it has no positive meaning anymore.