Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sprinkler fund gift a class act by incoming UW-L chancellor
Here’s an example of a class act by Nebraska Wesleyan University interim President Joe Gow, who soon will become University of Wisconsin-La Crosse chancellor.
Gow has donated a $24,000 farewell bonus to a fund to install sprinklers in Nebraska Wesleyan’s fraternity houses.
A Nov. 17 fire at the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house in Lincoln, Neb., killed a 19-year-old student. As a result of the death, the university said it will install sprinklers in all fraternity and sorority houses — at a cost of about $600,000.
The university has established a sprinkler fund and has begun to raise money. Gow said he hopes his donation will “kick start” the process.
“I feel wonderful about this,” Gow told a reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star. “In light of what we’ve been through, it was a pretty easy thing to do.”
While university-owned dormitories and buildings are equipped with sprinklers, the privately owned fraternity and sorority houses are not.
Nebraska Wesleyan’s decision to require sprinklers in non-university-owned Greek society houses — and to start a fund for sprinklers — is a responsible approach.
And Gow’s decision to donate his bonus money to the fund shows class and character — regardless of how easy he says the decision was to make.
Just judging from this one example, we think he will be a great addition to the UW-L community.
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