Stanford Daily, 만우절에 Bill Gates 동명 건물의 운명을 고민한다

Source: Slashdot

Satirical Stanford Daily Story

theodp writes:

“Gates Computer Science Building renamed Peter Thiel Center for Panoptic Computing” reads the headline of an April Fools’ Day story that ran in the Humor section of The Stanford Daily (with the disclaimer that “This article is purely satirical and fictitious”).

The story begins:

“Following revelations that the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, had a longstanding relationship with convicted child‑sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Stanford has announced it will strip Gates’ name from the William H. Gates Computer Science Building and instead honor alumnus Peter Thiel B.A. ’89, J.D. ’92. Gates, who is not a Stanford alumnus, gave an initial gift of $6 million toward the building’s construction in 1992.”

While fictional, the piece raises the question of what could happen to academic and institutional buildings worldwide that bear Bill Gates’s name in light of the backlash over his past ties to Epstein—ties that have already factored into the breakdown of his marriage to Melinda French Gates and his friendship with Warren Buffett.

Buildings Named After Bill Gates

• Stanford University – The Gates Computer Science Building (William H. Gates Computer Science Building)
• University of Texas at Austin – Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex
• Cornell University – Bill and Melinda Gates Hall
• University of Washington – The Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering (archived link: https://web.archive.org/web/20191014131816/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/bill-and-melinda-gates-give-15-million-to-complete-uw-building-that-bears-their-names/)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology – The William H. Gates Building at the Stata Center

Buildings Named After Gates’s Parents

• University of Washington – Mary Gates Hall and William H. Gates Hall (named for his parents)
• University of Cambridge (UK) – The William Gates Building

University Naming Policies and Precedents

Many universities have naming policies that allow donor names to be removed under extraordinary circumstances. For example, the University of Washington’s Regent Policy No. 50 states:

“The University reserves the right to revoke and terminate any naming on reasonable grounds not limited to the revelation of corporate or individual acts detracting from the University’s mission, integrity, or reputation.”

The same policy notes that Bill Gates’s parents and siblings have served as UW Regents for decades, which could influence how strictly the policy is applied in his case.

Relevant Links

• UW Regent Policy No. 50: https://policy.uw.edu/directory/brg/regent-policies/naming-policy/
• Gates family service as UW Regents: https://www.washington.edu/giving/recognition/gates-volunteer-service-award/about-the-gates-family/
• Bill Gates’s response to criticism: https://abcnews.com/US/foolish-bill-gates-denies-wrongdoing-after-latest-release/story?id=129845144