Cal State Fullerton Ponders Naming of New Building After Graduate with Questionable History

Officials at Cal State Fullerton have a difficult task ahead of them as they decide whether to accept a philanthropic gift or leave the gift behind over principles.

The problem stems from businessman and former Cal State Fullerton student Steven G. Mihaylo who pledged $4.5 million to the school to have the new business building on campus named after him.

The new business and economics building would be called the Steven G. Mihaylo Hall and will cost the school $87.5 million (regardless of whose name appears on the building). The problem is that when some Cal State Fullerton students were assigned to research the history of Mihaylo they ended up uncovering a less than perfect record.

Mihaylo, who founded InterTel Inc., signed a guilty plea for his company in December 2004 for committing federal mail fraud and for antitrust violations. Apparently the company ended up paying $9 million to San Francisco Unified School District and the U.S. government after it was found that some of the company's salespeople rigged some of the bids in a federal subsidy program. The program offers Internet service for low-income neighborhood schools.

The problem university officials now face is whether they should accept Mihaylo's bid and name the building after him or give back the money and say no on the basis of morality and principles. Some say yes; others say no.

On one hand, some university officials are saying that the building should still be named after Mihaylo even in light of the recent uncovering because he is committed to the university (through his $4.5 million donation).

The problem is that with that argument it looks as though the university honors people on the basis of monetary donations rather than their outstanding merits in the business world or whatever field they ended up going onto after graduating.

Cal State Fullerton president Milton Gordon was even quoted in the Orange County Register as saying that he and other officials will review InterTel's court case, but that even after the review nothing will probably change in how they view Mihaylo and his company.

The Register also quoted Mihaylo as saying "If they want me to take my money back, I'll be happy to do that." This of course, is an arrogant statement and in many ways says a lot about the character of this individual.

Shouldn't buildings be named after individuals who achieve success in the business world without breaking any federal laws, or do universities overlook those things when someone flashes money in their faces?

It is a little sad when colleges, which are supposed to be the pillars of all things ideal in the world, are influenced by money. The cynics in this world are probably having a field day with this story.