We need more project philanthropists at UH
January 9th, 2009 by Jay Fidell
The Shidler College of Business has begun installing a 4.5-kilowatt PV panel system. It will generate 24 kilowatts, enough to operate the courtyard lights overnight.
It has a web-based monitoring system that will allow students, faculty and the public to monitor the solar power and reduce emissions. It will prevent 9,000 pounds of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere every year, which amounts to driving your car for 11,000 miles.
Dean Vance Roley says that it's not only about being a good corporate citizen – it also makes business sense. It will reduce energy costs and waste and save the school money. The $50,000 system was donated by Hawaii real estate investor and entrepreneur Jay Shidler, who also gave the school $25 million a couple of years ago.
The story here is more than just the installation of a PV system. It's that Shidler Business College is way ahead of the rest of the University. It’s undergone a visible and enviable transformation.
It would be nice if every school had a $25 million grant like the one from Jay Shidler, but that's a long shot. Other schools have been trying to achieve that level of support but have not been able to do so.
With that gift, and the ones that have followed it, the business school is a great model for the other schools at UH. Hopefully, in the years to come, other generous individuals will step forward and provide similar grants and funding to do what has happened at business school.
But it doesn't take $25 million to put PV on the roof. Other donors can make lesser gifts and can also do notable things at UH. The campus is actually in shambles. Lots of those buildings need a paint job, landscaping and/or major maintenance. A lot less, even a few hundred thousand, would go a long way to bring a deteriorated building back to life.
These schools should look for philanthropists who can fund specific projects like paint jobs or landscaping or PV systems. We know they’re out there - are you one of them? You may not be able to have the school named after you, but you will get lots of gratitude for the gift, and the creativity. It’s a great way to build the image of the University and for that matter Hawaii's image. Every little bit helps, and it's a great way to get around the bureaucratic bungling on maintenance at Manoa.
Thanks to Jay Shidler for putting the PV on the business school and letting us see that it can in fact be done. The concept shouldn't stop with the business school – this should happen with every school on that campus. So if you went to a given school, or you just like a given school, why don't you contact the dean there and see what the deal would be and do what Jay Shidler has done. While it may take a lot to fix all of Manoa, it won’t take that much to fix a single school.
I'm sure you'll get enough credit, along with the gratification of leaving your mark on the place, to make it worth while. Maybe you can even get some classes out of the deal.
