Some students and alumni of Glassboro State College are angry that the school is being renamed in honor of a $100 million benefactor.
The school's board of trustees Wednesday unanimously approved the name change to Rowan College of New Jersey to mark the record donation by Henry M. Rowan, chairman and founder of the industrial furnace maker Inductotherm Industries Inc."As an individual who loves this institution, I feel betrayed," said alumnus Robert Baker, 33, of Man-tua. "I feel like a man without a country."
The donation was the largest cash gift ever to a public college or university. It will be used in part to establish an engineering school.
"We decided that the only suitable recognition . . . was to change the name of the institution," said Philip A. Tumminia, director of the college's development fund, who negotiated the agreement with Rowan.
Glassboro's board of trustees voted 10-0 to endorse the change, effective Sept. 1. State approval is needed.
Several hundred students and alumni have called to complain about the switch. Some suggested alternatives, such as Rowan College at Glassboro or Rowan-Glass-boro College.
Donald Barger, mayor of this 11,000-resident community 15 miles southeast of Philadelphia, said he would prefer that the name stay the same.
"However I wouldn't want them to do it at the expense of losing the $100 million," he said.
Keith Forrest, 26, of Los Angeles, a member of the college's California alumni association, said tax-payers built the school and pay its bills, so they should have a say.