It has been long perceived that money, fame, and power run in
parallel lanes. But to the locals, the people who consider Miami their home,
their city has become shaped by people who are drawn to Miami by the amenities,
the mobiles who are. Taking a look at how the University of Miami has made
itself known over the decades since its establishment one particular instance
stands out. In 2004, when the Miller family donated $100 million dollars to the
University of Miami’s medical school in honor of Leonard Miller the university
decided to interject Leonard M. Miller into the school’s official name. The
Miller family was not known and still there remains little public information
about the family’s prominence and relation to Miami, if any. UM’s medical
campus is located in the hub of downtown Miami; one metro station after
Overtown and a few more before Hialeah.
Many
academic journals have taken a look at the demographic make-up of Miami beyond
the usual metrics of race, income, and age. Applying these metrics to the
surrounding environment of the medical campus the gap between the funding of a
private university and Overtown homeless shelter that can barely open their
doors may be justified. Through research about the psychology of philanthropy
and the associations relating the locals, Miller family and UM together a
flawed mentality will surface.
Funding has become the
driving factor behind universities, therefore creating a more corporate image
to institutions of higher education. As with any multi-million dollar deal the
script of conversations conducting behind closed doors will never be known. In
2004, UM became the eighth medical school in the nation to be renamed in honor
of a donation. In reality, weather the $100 million gift is spent or invested
it is inevitable that at least a portion gift will be lost in circulation. 52
years and $100 million dollars later the name change to Miller School of
Medicine will long outlast the gift. Miller is the name that changed the path
of the university but to the locals the name is plastered to the side of a
building they may never see.
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