Greg Gianforte has been charged with misdemeanor assault for body-slamming The Guardian's Ben Jacobs. After directly asking the then-congressional candidate about the Congressional Budget Office's scoring of the GOP health care bill, Gianforte "grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground … then began punching the reporter" according to three Fox News reporters. [1] This occurred the day before Montana’s special congressional election, after many absentee ballots were already cast. As a result, it did not have a marked impact on the results, allowing Gianforte to win the sole congressional seat. The incident has made national headlines, ranging from major outlets like the New York Times [2] to several local news outlets who have picked up on Stevens' ties to Gianforte, including PIX11 [3], which featured this petition, and NJ.com [4]. In addition to Gianforte’s physical assault against the reporter, we have also discovered he has ties to white supremacists [5]. This, in addition to his other actions outlined in the petition, stand in direct contradiction to the purported values of Stevens. As we will discuss below, the administration’s responses thus far haven’t addressed the fact that, by naming a building after Gianforte, we hurt the integrity of the institution while appearing hypocritical in regards to our values. We demand the administration explain its reasoning for its continued apathy as well as issuing a full condemnation of Gianforte’s actions. HOW THE STEVENS COMMUNITY HAS REACTED Over 400 people have signed the petition and hundreds have commented explaining why they think this is unacceptable what the university has done in terms of honoring Gianforte. They have also expressed their outrage over Gianforte’s actions, condemned his rhetoric and actions, and reaffirmed Stevens as a place inclusive and welcoming of all regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Current students like Brendan Reis find the values of Mr. Gianforte "flatly incongruous with those of a science and technology focused higher education [like] Stevens" with "the downplaying of ethical concerns in the endless quest for more funding… a slippery slope for the distortion of scholarship." Henry Paul worries that the university's student-centricity outlined in the Strategic Plan is "worthless lip service… [putting] the pursuit of money above the struggles of its students." Maxwell Cool agrees that Gianforte "stands for the exact opposite of the diversity that Stevens hopes to achieve and putting his name on any buildings would be a step in the wrong direction," with Desiree Batista noting that his stance does "nothing to uphold Stevens characteristics and qualities." Alumni like Chris Diggins and Alexander Divinsky ('11) are "embarrassed," the former because "[Stevens] would honor someone who uses his wealth and influence to spread hate and anti-science lies, let alone thinks it's okay to physically assault a reporter" and the latter "not because of his success in the tech sector, but because he continues to use that success to spread hate." They are "ashamed" (James Scancarella, '13), "disgusted" (Patrick Hawkins), and believe that "Stevens is an institution that claims to support their LGBT community, but it's hard to believe that claim is true if they're willing to dispense with their stated ideals just for a quick payday" (John Cheatham, '15) Christopher Bush ('96) agrees, relating the Gianforte naming as reminiscent of the "administration during [his] era – far more concerned about the donations than the community." The connection between these alumni and current students is the need for Stevens to be a leader; senior Tristan Demetri remarks that "Stevens should not implicitly condone Greg Gianforte's condemnable views of the LGBTQ+ community," as Stevens students like him "highly value acceptance and equal treatment of all LGBTQ+" members. Michele Widd ('87 & 89) is "strongly opposed to naming the new academic center after someone associated with highly discriminatory rhetoric." Junior Emma Murphy thinks "we should be beyond this," with Rebecca Lee ('17) believing that Stevens "doesn't need any more appropriation of discrimination that it already has." As alumnus Malina Janakat has stated, both students and alumni want their alma mater to be a "place that makes [them] proud," one that "prioritizes diversity" (alumnus Molly Bennett), and not a place that "values money over integrity." Gianforte's act of violence has become the latest and loudest reasoning for Stevens to substantially respond to naming the gateway complex after such a problematic individual antithetical to Stevens ideals of leadership. [1] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/26/greg-gianforte-apologizes-body-slam-incident-238847 [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/us/politics/greg-gianforte-montana-republican-body-slams-reporter.html [3] http://pix11.com/2017/05/25/montana-congressional-candidates-alleged-attack-fuels-new-criticism-of-his-deep-nj-ties/ [4] http://www.nj.com/education/2017/05/montana_gianforte_body_slam_reporter_college_build.html [5] https://newrepublic.com/minutes/142910/greg-gianforte-disturbing-ties-white-nationalists