I try to keep this blog focused on sleazy administrators, football scams, and transparency. But every now and then something a bit more consequential comes up. From the comments on a UO Gabon post:
Citoyen Libre Gabon Sunday, 02 December, 2012
University of Oregon just accepted a gift of $20M from Gabon! As a gabonese citizen, this is a shameful decision by a university in the US profiting from poor people of Gabon. In my country, infants die for anecdotal deseases and women still give birth on the floor because the kelptocratic, corrupt and dictatorial president in power is robbing the country! How can a state university in the US accept to deal with crooks? How can money be so more important than people? The US is supporting a dictator that people of Gabon never elected; a man who imposed himself as president with support of France and US (in some extend).
This an insult to the people of Gabon struggling for justice and democracy and also to survive, even if their country is rich with all sort of natural resources. U of Oregon students should ask their leaders to give them answers about why they are dealing with a dictator from Gabon!
Again, shame on U of Oregon!
And read the comments here. I’ve asked President Gottfredson and UO’s Interim VP for Academic Affairs Dennis Galvan, who helped negotiate the Gabon deal under Lariviere, if they care to respond. I’ll post it here if they do.
Our university now has a foreign policy. And I don’t think it’s one that would have made Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, Woody Guthrie, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, or Bill Clinton proud. Nixon and Kissinger would have loved it though. 12/2/2012.
A new phd program requires faculty Approval. Has that been done? If so shame on us. If not shame on our administration
This Gabon initiative is appalling. Appalling.
Clearly UO Matters is not an historian. This kind of foreign policy is standard fare. Who knows, this UO/Gabon initiative could even be part of current US foreign policy – Gabon was on the UN Security Council when this happened.
Critics of the Gabon initiative miss the point. There is a lot we can learn from the Gabon government. Money laundering, for example.
I am referring you to another link on this same website. You’ll notice that some of your fellow students already expressed concerns, rightly so, about this deal which is starting to create lots of frustrations about people of Gabon, including on Facebook. Not so good for the reputation of U of O.
Gabon has been ruled by the same dictatorial family for more than 44 years! Money laundring is a routine there… Read more here…
https://uomatters.com/2011/06/uo-and-kleptocratic-president-of-gabon.html