Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
CMU to open Miami campus after $3 billion gift from Citadel founder Ken Griffin
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Carnegie Mellon University will open an innovative campus in Miami after a $3 billion donation from hedge fund CEO Kenneth Griffin, whose nationally historic gift will also aim to bolster CMU’s flagship Pittsburgh campus.
I know there's been a lot of talk about this already; however, I feel as though CMU has yet to properly address how fundamentally the school is being manipulated for the gain of a single billionaire. From the perspective of a student not in the computer science program, the building of a Miami campus seems incredibly tailored to providing some of the best students and graduates in the world to a single man's company, which also happens ot be headquartered in Miami. It seems as though the university was wooed with a lot of money into essentially giving a billionaire his personal university to feed his corporation, which adds very little real value to our world; they quite literally do not make a product, simply move money around, and it seems a waste of such a fine institution's resources and time to create such a thing, even though the rest of the university gets a still substantial portion of money for its troubles.
While the recent donation of 3 billion dollars is certainly exciting to the Carnegie Mellon community, as it provides an opportunity for expansion with the recent development of Carnegie Mellon Miami, I think it also raises a moral questioning of CMU values. The Miami campus seems tightly tied to Ken Griffin's possible interest in his company, Citadel, which is located in Miami as well. I think the deep involvement of a billionaire hedge fund guru should be concerning to the student - particularly us in the School of Drama /CFA. I think it feels easy to be left behind when the focus remains on the School of Computer Science and this new innovative campus. Additionally, against the backdrop of prior censorship on campus, what resources and support can students expect to be free of suppression from this new factor on campus?
As much as the $3 billion is an incredible amount of money for CMU, I do worry about the impact that Griffin will have on the university. It feels like we are being used for his own gain. He's helping us build a campus in the same city as his company, and he now serves on the Board of Trustees. He now has so much sway over what CMU does, which is concerning since he self describes as a "Regan Republican" and believes that DEI is useless on college campuses. I worry about how free speech will be impacted here, as that has already become an issue over the past year. This whole donation seems like a power grab to control a prestigious university that is a forerunner in AI development, something that Griffin is likely interested in pursuing in his company, if he hasn't already started pursuing it already.
I’m really thankful that I decided to click on this specific article and read my classmates’ comments on the news. It gave me a lot of insights that I wouldn’t have known because of my unfamiliarity with this figure and his potential intentions behind making such a massive donation. My initial reaction to hearing this news was surprise and confusion about the reason behind starting a new campus in Miami. I thought of it as a campus where students can balance academic excellence with a high quality of life. Because Miami is known for its beaches, it instantly brings associations of fun and relaxation, which contrasts with the typical image of a serious, hardworking college life. While scholarly research and exploration would still exist there, I envision the new CMU campus being constructed somewhere with greater and more rigorous access to resources and opportunities.
I am also thankful that I read through everyone's comments. I was expecting to get more intel from the article itself, but we cannot read it without subscribing. So between these comments and what came through the email, I learned a lot, and I am honestly surprised by what people shared about this person. As a business move, I think this is actually very smart. Part of the 3 billion goes toward a new campus, which I see as a good investment in his image, funding a school while feeding his own company. There might be more job opportunities at his company for students from that campus. But I think it is good and bad at the same time. For graduates it feels like an almost guaranteed job. But for people who are more ambitious and want to work somewhere else, being tied to a campus possibly influenced by this figure might make it harder to get jobs outside his company. That is my main concern. A campus tied this closely to one person could quietly narrow where its graduates end up, and that is worth paying attention to even with all the good the money does.
I do find it a bit concerning about how much this new campus is meant to benefit his vision, he says that this is the campus he envisions being one of the best in world and it’s right next to the headquarters of his company that is also in Miami, I always find myself a bit skeptical when I hear about billionaires giving large sums of money, especially if they’ve been trying to negotiate what they can get out of it, and this donation has been discussed for over a year so a lot must of been negotiated. In the end he did get what he wanted which is why he made the donation I feel like if he didn’t get this Miami campus things wouldn’t have played out this way. This isn’t to say that I don’t this this donation isn’t monumental it’s always a good thing to see education getting funding from those who have the money to help
I was so shocked by this announcement the other day. I had no idea that there was a new campus in the works and then suddenly it was everywhere. I don’t know what it means that it was kept so secret from everyone until it was everywhere, but I’m curious what other motives there were for both Griffin and CMU as a whole. It’s somewhat strange that all of the sudden a billionaire wants to donate such a large sum of money to the university for a whole new campus. I think there are definitely some politics at play here with Griffin wanting to look better to the people of Florida and wanting to have favors with such a huge university. I am excited that our school is getting more resources and places for people to learn and grow. Throughout all of this there is still some questions that I have that I would like to know more about.
7 comments:
I know there's been a lot of talk about this already; however, I feel as though CMU has yet to properly address how fundamentally the school is being manipulated for the gain of a single billionaire. From the perspective of a student not in the computer science program, the building of a Miami campus seems incredibly tailored to providing some of the best students and graduates in the world to a single man's company, which also happens ot be headquartered in Miami. It seems as though the university was wooed with a lot of money into essentially giving a billionaire his personal university to feed his corporation, which adds very little real value to our world; they quite literally do not make a product, simply move money around, and it seems a waste of such a fine institution's resources and time to create such a thing, even though the rest of the university gets a still substantial portion of money for its troubles.
While the recent donation of 3 billion dollars is certainly exciting to the Carnegie Mellon community, as it provides an opportunity for expansion with the recent development of Carnegie Mellon Miami, I think it also raises a moral questioning of CMU values. The Miami campus seems tightly tied to Ken Griffin's possible interest in his company, Citadel, which is located in Miami as well. I think the deep involvement of a billionaire hedge fund guru should be concerning to the student - particularly us in the School of Drama /CFA. I think it feels easy to be left behind when the focus remains on the School of Computer Science and this new innovative campus. Additionally, against the backdrop of prior censorship on campus, what resources and support can students expect to be free of suppression from this new factor on campus?
As much as the $3 billion is an incredible amount of money for CMU, I do worry about the impact that Griffin will have on the university. It feels like we are being used for his own gain. He's helping us build a campus in the same city as his company, and he now serves on the Board of Trustees. He now has so much sway over what CMU does, which is concerning since he self describes as a "Regan Republican" and believes that DEI is useless on college campuses. I worry about how free speech will be impacted here, as that has already become an issue over the past year. This whole donation seems like a power grab to control a prestigious university that is a forerunner in AI development, something that Griffin is likely interested in pursuing in his company, if he hasn't already started pursuing it already.
I’m really thankful that I decided to click on this specific article and read my classmates’ comments on the news. It gave me a lot of insights that I wouldn’t have known because of my unfamiliarity with this figure and his potential intentions behind making such a massive donation. My initial reaction to hearing this news was surprise and confusion about the reason behind starting a new campus in Miami. I thought of it as a campus where students can balance academic excellence with a high quality of life. Because Miami is known for its beaches, it instantly brings associations of fun and relaxation, which contrasts with the typical image of a serious, hardworking college life. While scholarly research and exploration would still exist there, I envision the new CMU campus being constructed somewhere with greater and more rigorous access to resources and opportunities.
I am also thankful that I read through everyone's comments. I was expecting to get more intel from the article itself, but we cannot read it without subscribing. So between these comments and what came through the email, I learned a lot, and I am honestly surprised by what people shared about this person. As a business move, I think this is actually very smart. Part of the 3 billion goes toward a new campus, which I see as a good investment in his image, funding a school while feeding his own company. There might be more job opportunities at his company for students from that campus. But I think it is good and bad at the same time. For graduates it feels like an almost guaranteed job. But for people who are more ambitious and want to work somewhere else, being tied to a campus possibly influenced by this figure might make it harder to get jobs outside his company. That is my main concern. A campus tied this closely to one person could quietly narrow where its graduates end up, and that is worth paying attention to even with all the good the money does.
I do find it a bit concerning about how much this new campus is meant to benefit his vision, he says that this is the campus he envisions being one of the best in world and it’s right next to the headquarters of his company that is also in Miami, I always find myself a bit skeptical when I hear about billionaires giving large sums of money, especially if they’ve been trying to negotiate what they can get out of it, and this donation has been discussed for over a year so a lot must of been negotiated. In the end he did get what he wanted which is why he made the donation I feel like if he didn’t get this Miami campus things wouldn’t have played out this way. This isn’t to say that I don’t this this donation isn’t monumental it’s always a good thing to see education getting funding from those who have the money to help
I was so shocked by this announcement the other day. I had no idea that there was a new campus in the works and then suddenly it was everywhere. I don’t know what it means that it was kept so secret from everyone until it was everywhere, but I’m curious what other motives there were for both Griffin and CMU as a whole. It’s somewhat strange that all of the sudden a billionaire wants to donate such a large sum of money to the university for a whole new campus. I think there are definitely some politics at play here with Griffin wanting to look better to the people of Florida and wanting to have favors with such a huge university. I am excited that our school is getting more resources and places for people to learn and grow. Throughout all of this there is still some questions that I have that I would like to know more about.
Post a Comment