CMU Community Celebrates Transformational $3B Gift
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Carnegie Mellon University community members, including students, faculty and staff, filled the Cut with energy throughout Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the announcement by CMU and Citadel founder and CEO and founder of Griffin Catalyst Ken Griffin of a historic $3 billion commitment.
Griffin and a group of students walked across Forbes Avenue with CMU President Farnam Jahanian and other community members after a fireside chat earlier in the day, passing banners announcing the newly renamed Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science.
"This is an extraordinary commitment and an extraordinary vote of confidence in this university, in our faculty and in our staff and in our students. To our students, it's an investment and an endorsement in your ideas, it’s an investment in our ideas, and in what Carnegie Mellon can accomplish in the decades ahead. Ken, thank you for believing in CMU and for making this remarkable opportunity possible for all of Carnegie Mellon."
— Farnam Jahaniam, Carnegie Mellon University president
"I have looked at thousands and thousands of investment ideas over the course of my lifetime. This was one of the easiest investment decisions I have ever made, and I want to thank you for making this such an easy decision."
— Ken Griffin, Citadel founder and CEO and founder of Griffin Catalyst
"We are here to solve problems. We are here to take on the big stuff. We are here to create and invent. And now we have this tremendous opportunity as the City of Bridges to build a bridge with Miami, because our world is getting more complex, and because of this generous $3 billion investment, we can take on some of these world's greatest challenges together."
— Sara Innamorato, Allegheny County executive
"For our students, it means new opportunities to learn and to create, discover and lead. For our faculty and staff, it means new possibilities to push the boundaries of research, education and innovation. And for Pittsburgh, the city that has shaped Carnegie Mellon for more than a century, it represents an extraordinary investment in our shared future."
— Gina Casalegno, CMU dean of students and vice president of student affairs
During the celebration, CMU community members took part in several activities while enjoying themed drinks and food such as pierogies to represent Pittsburgh and empanadas to represent Miami. Some participants painted panels for a collaborative mural to be installed later on the new Miami campus. Others watched robots sketch their portraits or wrote postcards with messages to future CMU Miami students.
"This announcement shows the credibility in terms of competence that CMU has enabled students to develop over the years. That people like Kenneth Griffin, who are donating, see value in expanding CMU and its longstanding traditions and the impact it has created."
— Deepanjali Mishra, Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering
"I’m really proud of this school, and I love the community. Everybody here at CMU can contribute to everywhere, and the more of us, the better; the more contributions. I’m excited to see CMU grow. I’m excited to see us climb the ranks."
— Victor Taveras, third-year student majoring in mechanical engineering
