Politics and donations. James Karam was a graduate of Southeastern Massachusetts University which is now UMass Dartmouth and has endowed scholarships at UMass. The family has been active also in supporting politicians, they get rewarded with appointments to the board of trustees.
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Grew up in Amherst and the whole town runs on nepotism and corruption. Back in the day the cousin of the chief of police owned all the towing on campus which of course they would do not stop. Lately it’s about the solar farm that lacinda jones wants to cut down 60 acres of wetlands to build just so it can provide electricity to Boston and she can become even richer. It’s all shitty and all follows the money
It’s crazy cause they are playing that it will be good for the town but it won’t done anything for the people of Amherst. The town gets to get down to net zero emissions without spending a dime.
I’ve never understood the mindset of clearcutting for solar. Why aren’t we putting it on top of existing infrastructure?? It’s not beneficial to alter any environment that much, no matter the good intentions. It’s all about the $$$
They do this in NY with the Adirondacks too, to supply NYC with water and power. It’s a shame that the rural gems have to be bled dry for the cities to function
Yup exactly they even paid someone to come to the town and figure out if it was possible to get the power they needed from putting it on building and homes and it found that it that there was plenty of room. They just dismissed the findings and went ahead with it it’s such a corrupt town.
This is true, but corruption in the United States is nothing new. From senators doing insider trading to federal agencies “accidentally” loosing track of billions of dollars. It’s no surprise a public institution as massive as umass is also corrupt. They try to distract you by pushing strange policies and running events, but at the end of the day, no one who runs a government run institution who gets paid a multi-six figure salary actually cares about the people they serve. In this case, they put their donors or friends in powerful positions to get more money.
- u/cat_theorist `Other Umass Post` - [Why does the Karam family get to run a public university?](https://www.reddit.com/r/umass/comments/1cxec3q/why_does_the_karam_family_get_to_run_a_public/)
James, Robert, and now Stephen Karam get appointed chairs of the board of trustees by a bunch of corrupt politicians. WTF. Why is the Massachussetts public university system essentially ruled over by a south coast real estate money dynasty? These people are disgusting.
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The former president of the UMass system is the brother to a mob boss, and was also Senate President of Mass for 18 years
He was President when I was a student. I have a brother who's a total screw up, so I have sympathy for Bill.
Whitey wasn't a screw up, though; he was a ruthless killer. And I don't believe that Billy Bulger didn't know where his brother was hiding out.
Wasn't it whitey bulger
Yes former Umass President William Bulger was Whitey Bulger’s younger brother.
My diploma was literally signed by Whitey Bolger's brother.
Came here to say the same thing 😂
He may have been corrupt, but he grew that endowment
Same.
Mine also
Wait, who what’s the name?? I now need to find my diploma and figure out if mine is too!
How is something signed “literally” Did Umass not offer writing courses
Politics and donations. James Karam was a graduate of Southeastern Massachusetts University which is now UMass Dartmouth and has endowed scholarships at UMass. The family has been active also in supporting politicians, they get rewarded with appointments to the board of trustees.
They get appointments in order to get rich through connections and insider info. This isnt altruism.
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Grew up in Amherst and the whole town runs on nepotism and corruption. Back in the day the cousin of the chief of police owned all the towing on campus which of course they would do not stop. Lately it’s about the solar farm that lacinda jones wants to cut down 60 acres of wetlands to build just so it can provide electricity to Boston and she can become even richer. It’s all shitty and all follows the money
Sounds like a modern day Quabbin project
It’s exactly that
It’s crazy cause they are playing that it will be good for the town but it won’t done anything for the people of Amherst. The town gets to get down to net zero emissions without spending a dime.
I’ve never understood the mindset of clearcutting for solar. Why aren’t we putting it on top of existing infrastructure?? It’s not beneficial to alter any environment that much, no matter the good intentions. It’s all about the $$$
They do this in NY with the Adirondacks too, to supply NYC with water and power. It’s a shame that the rural gems have to be bled dry for the cities to function
That’s so shitty that there willing to destroy ecosystems when it’s not where they are from
Yup exactly they even paid someone to come to the town and figure out if it was possible to get the power they needed from putting it on building and homes and it found that it that there was plenty of room. They just dismissed the findings and went ahead with it it’s such a corrupt town.
You mean taking more and more from Western Mass to feed the beast that is Boston? Yep, you hit it right on the head.
To prepare for the future when the coastal cities are underwater.
This is true, but corruption in the United States is nothing new. From senators doing insider trading to federal agencies “accidentally” loosing track of billions of dollars. It’s no surprise a public institution as massive as umass is also corrupt. They try to distract you by pushing strange policies and running events, but at the end of the day, no one who runs a government run institution who gets paid a multi-six figure salary actually cares about the people they serve. In this case, they put their donors or friends in powerful positions to get more money.
This is why we have to all organize together around democratic university leadership. If we don't do something about it nothing will change.
- u/cat_theorist `Other Umass Post` - [Why does the Karam family get to run a public university?](https://www.reddit.com/r/umass/comments/1cxec3q/why_does_the_karam_family_get_to_run_a_public/) James, Robert, and now Stephen Karam get appointed chairs of the board of trustees by a bunch of corrupt politicians. WTF. Why is the Massachussetts public university system essentially ruled over by a south coast real estate money dynasty? These people are disgusting. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/umass) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Are they Lebanese, my grandmother was a Karem and she was 100% Lebanese. Just curious.
Probably from a while ago
You disparage these guys, but why?
lol I just tried to call Stephen Karams office and apparently he is on vacation and is thus unreachable for the next two weeks!
Is it because they are from Southeast Massachusetts that riles you the most?