Montana congressman and body-slamming sensation Greg Gianforte has donated a total of twenty million dollars to Stevens Institute of Technology for the purpose of a new academic center. As members of the Stevens community, we’re very excited about this building, as it will facilitate the kind of learning and discovery that makes Stevens such an awesome and engaging place to earn your degree.The Stevens Administration is planning on naming this building the Gianforte Family Academic Center. That name doesn’t exactly inspire, and yet they insist on using it. After weeks of deliberating, we’ve come to the conclusion that there may be some kind of monetary pressure behind this. That’s ok! We have a solution.If we can raise twenty million and one dollars, the administration may entertain our request to change the name. We’d like to name the building after something that has had a much more profound and positive impact on the Stevens community. Like the Bagels on the Hudson Academic Center.Stevens Administration, how much will it take for you to realize the consequences of your decision? Name your price.If (and that’s a BIG if) we can’t raise twenty million and one dollars to pay to name the new Stevens building,. Gianforte has spent his money on organizations that oppose the rights of the LGBTQ community. If our money can’t counteract his footprint on our campus, it’ll go towards counteracting his donations.From their website , their mission statement: "The Hudson Pride Connections Center is a home and voice for the diverse LGBTQ community and our allies that advocates for our physical, mental, social, and political well-being. We create safe, vibrant spaces to gather and celebrate our lives." We don't want the LGBTQ student, faculty, and alumni to feel left behind by this naming decision, and the Hudson Pride Connections Center is one of many great nearby resources to find refuge in.HPCC is aware and approves of this campaign!Greg Gianforte has done a lot of things we’re not fans of: assaulting a journalist, propagating values antithetical to our institution such as scientific creationism and climate change denial, and funding organizations that promote violent conversion therapy and the denial of fundamental rights for the LGBTQ community. The Stevens we know - the Stevens we see in the actions of student leadership and the example of faculty, the Stevens we see in dorms and classrooms and on every admissions brochure - doesn’t tolerate any of these things, so why should it honor a man who practices them? You can find more information about Gianforte’s blatant disregard for civil rights and scientific principle on www.iwillnotsitby.com Like we said, we’d like to have a name that honors a person, idea, or other entity that has had a profound and positive impact on the Stevens community. We also respect the principles of democracy on which this nation was founded, so we’ll open a Google Form for suggestions and then put it to a vote among the ones that fit the criteria.We are a group of Stevens current students and alumni who love our school community and what it stands for: diversity, inclusion, and triumph in the face of adversity. It is because of these values that we are seeking twenty million and one dollars.If this private instituion can't handle their funds in a morally-conscious way, from Board of Trustees members and President Farvardin donating to the Gianforte congressional campaign following the Academic Center's initial announcement, to taking away financial aid from students who earn scholarship, then we can't reasonably think any donation to Stevens, dog-marked or not, will benefit the people who need it. You'll have more transparency of where your money's going in this crowd-sourced campaign by mostly-anonymous students than any current donation to Stevens.Please share this page on social media using the hashtag #StevensNameYourPrice