Yesterday, the Buffalo News ran this piece about Scott Nostaja, who was named interim president of SUNY at Buffalo by UB Council head Jeremy Jacobs last Monday (August 30)—upon the resignation of John Simpson (on the first day of classes for the fall semester). Buffalo’s daily paper joined every other news outlet in town when it reported this important development without asking a single question.
The only problem with that, of course, is that the UB Council doesn’t have the authority to make such a coronation. Artvoice wrote about it the next day. The day after that, the story was picked up by Inside Higher Ed, a national news source for higher education matters. They even had the class to credit Artvoice, which is more than we can say for the News.
The same day Inside Higher Ed published their piece, the editors of the Buffalo News posted this whimpering statement on their Matters of Opinion blog.
While it’s good to see the News hopping on the bandwagon five days late, we’ve been writing about Scott Nostaja well before president Simpson jumped, or was pushed, from the ship.
Now, the level of frustration in the UB community is on the rise, provoked by Nostaja’s lack of qualifications and by what many are beginning to view as a power grab by the business community.
Jacobs is also the multi-billionaire Chairman and CEO of Delaware North Companies, and he owns the National Hockey League Boston Bruins, as well as the TD Garden, where both the Bruins and Boston Celtics play. TD Garden is also a major concert venue. Delaware North sells all the concessions there.
A well-respected businessman, many think Jacobs’s decisions are beyond reproach. But click here to meet someone who doesn’t think so. (NOTE: This is the parental advisory part.)
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