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by metadat 1511 days ago
Stanford is really a real estate venture masquerading as an academic institution.

Why? For tax purposes.

Upon first hearing this I was shocked and disappointed. Over time I've lowered my hopes and expectations, and come to accept it for what it is:

Old, elite, uber-wealthy white men at the top, who want it to stay that way.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Stanford+president

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marc_Tessier-Lavigne_at...

References:

"The Stanford Empire", by Mercury News

> Stanford's vast holdings. Stanford, Silicon Valley's largest property owner, controls more than 5,000 acres in Palo Alto and unincorporated Santa Clara County. On that land are the university's sprawling campus, a shopping center, tech offices, apartment buildings and entire residential neighborhoods.

> The value of Stanford’s empire is larger than those of Google, Apple and Intel combined.

https://extras.mercurynews.com/whoowns/stanford.html

"How Stanford Came to Dominate the Landscape in Silicon Valley", by KQED

> The value of Stanford's real estate empire is greater than the holdings of Google, Apple and Cisco combined.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11781771/how-stanford-became-the-l...