The story of Greg Mortenson and his alleged missteps continue to unfold and UB continues to experience the impact of his alleged transgressions.
Mortenson, who has been accused of lying and misappropriating funds within the not-for-profit organization, Central Asia Institute (CAI), continues to grab headlines as the details of the story continue to surface.
In Wednesday's issue of The Spectrum, Mortenson's behavior and potential wrongdoing was explored, but all the details in connection to UB were not clear at press time.
Since then, The Spectrum has learned that Mortenson received $25,000 for his appearance to speak as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series last year. In addition, his charity, "Pennies for Peace," was presented with a check for $15,208.62, which was raised by various entities.
Failed attempts to get in contact with the people that organized Stay-Up UB's dance party last November left several unanswered questions in Wednesday's article. The Spectrum spoke with Community Engagement Coordinator of the Center for Student Leadership & Community Engagement Terri Budek, who was in charge of the event. She was unaware of Mortenson's alleged wrong doings.
"This is the first I'm hearing of it so I'm kind of thrown off a bit," Budek said. "I think people in general – when we ask [people] to give money – [they] have a lot of choices to where they give their money to. It's one of the ways that some people choose to give back and I think most people…should choose an organization or a charity group that they believe in and they feel passionate about."
Unfortunately for the people who selected "Pennies for Peace," they may have found a sour apple.
Roughly $6,000 of the donation was raised at UB through Stay-Up UB's Dance Party, UB 101 classes, and various penny jars and club fundraisers around campus, according to Assistant Vice President of Media Relations John Della Contrada. However, it wasn't just the university who pitched in to lend support for school children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Local high schools and other charitable efforts throughout the community helped raise the additional $9,000, according to Della Contrada.
In a similar story, children at Le roy, N.Y.'s Wolcott St. School stretched their pennies for Mortenson's charity to the amount of $1,600, according to an article by The Batavian published March 30. The school's kindergarten through sixth grade raised the money as part of the school's honesty month. No one at the school could have anticipated the circumstances surrounding Mortenson today.
UB Reads provides a speaker every year as part of the series and distributed free copies of Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, to students free of charge.
The meaning behind Mortenson's speaking events is one of giving and charitable ways of thinking. Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Barbara Ricotta thinks people should continue to decipher that message, to find the parts that attempt to help people.
"I think helping your fellow citizens is really important, whether it's in this country or abroad," Ricotta said. "I think those are important messages we want our students to hear about, reflect upon, and think about doing. You hope people don't get disheartened by what they hear because there is a lot of people out there doing good work."
Nobody seems to be questioning the good things Mortenson has done throughout his career with CAI, but it's the gravity of the bad things now associated with his name that concerns many.
The altering job that Mortenson did on his memoirs, though alarming, seem to be right in line with a recent trend in the literary world. Elayne Rapping, professor emerita of American studies and media studies at UB is appalled by this trend but isn't surprised.
"There have been books that have been fraudulent," Rapping said. "There's been a slew of those lately. People write their memoirs and falsify theirs lives and make a lot of money doing it. But I have not heard of another charitable organization doing that."
Rapping believes that the alleged actions of Mortenson shouldn't have an affect on big organizations like Red Cross, but smaller non-profits that aid third world countries could feel tremors for years to come.
Budek hopes people continue to help out philanthropic organizations and charities because, like Rapping, she believes the help is needed and good people still try and help those in need.
"I think in this economy people are really keeping track of where their money is going," Budek said. "So I hope that if they chose to give their money to any charity…they believe in the cause that it stands for and that they should continue to [give]."
The Special Events office runs the Distinguished Speaker Series but has not returned phone calls as of press time for the third straight day.
Email: news@ubspectrum.com
