UCSB’s vanity is showing and it is ugly as sin.
UCSB has made the first steps towards building Munger Gulag, oops, I mean Munger Hall. There has been ample coverage of what makes this proposed building a blight on the South Coast and threat to the mental wellbeing of students. I want to point out a different perspective.
The UC has a long history of accepting private financial contributions to partially fund vanity projects for the donor. For example, individuals “donate” their archives to (1) clear out their attics and (2) get a hefty tax deduction. Another example would be a donor who makes a minimal donation to name an endowed chair in the study of a topic that is of interest to one person: the donor. This produces a nice tax benefit and a huge vanity boost for the person whose name is on the chair in perpetuity.