David Rubenstein fired

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dudog84

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Very famous (for the non-sports-minded among us) Dukie David Rubenstein has been fired as Chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His philanthropy is legendary, among his many notable contributions to Duke and society:

Chairman of the Board of Trustees 2013-17
Over $100 million to Duke
Tens of millions to other universities (and other causes) as well
Hosts "History with David Rubenstein" on PBS, a good show if you get the chance to catch it
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom last month

I guess even rich people can get fired
 
dudog84 said:
Very famous (for the non-sports-minded among us) Dukie David Rubenstein has been fired as Chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His philanthropy is legendary, among his many notable contributions to Duke and society:

Chairman of the Board of Trustees 2013-17
Over $100 million to Duke
Tens of millions to other universities (and other causes) as well
Hosts "History with David Rubenstein" on PBS, a good show if you get the chance to catch it
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom last month

I guess even rich people can get fired
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He's given over $100 million to the Kennedy Center and was ready to give them $20 million more until this happened.
 
dudog84 said:
Very famous (for the non-sports-minded among us) Dukie David Rubenstein has been fired as Chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His philanthropy is legendary, among his many notable contributions to Duke and society:

Chairman of the Board of Trustees 2013-17
Over $100 million to Duke
Tens of millions to other universities (and other causes) as well
Hosts "History with David Rubenstein" on PBS, a good show if you get the chance to catch it
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom last month

I guess even rich people can get fired
Click to expand...
Rubenstein spoke at my office this fall - he is really smart, humble, but also hilarious. We got to have our pictures taken with him afterwards so I quickly mentioned that I was a Duke PPS alum (one of the PPS buildings is named after him). It was shortly after the Kentucky game and his response was "I can't believe we lost to Kentucky."

He is a truly great American. And he is an incredibly charitable American, as you noted.
 
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We're walking a tightrope here, folks. Please post with our guidelines in mind.

-jk
 
David Rubenstein's interviews are ridiculously good. "Must see" YouTube.

Strikes me as one of the good guys.
 
Rubenstein is a wonderful man, a fine Duke representative and a patriotic American. I'm very proud of him.

The Kennedy Center is a mess. The acoustics are terrible, the ventilation is abysmal, the sightlines are awful and the people who work there seem dispirited and bored.
So much money has been poured into the place, Why is it so bad?
 
weezie said:
Rubenstein is a wonderful man, a fine Duke representative and a patriotic American. I'm very proud of him.

The Kennedy Center is a mess. The acoustics are terrible, the ventilation is abysmal, the sightlines are awful and the people who work there seem dispirited and bored.
So much money has been poured into the place, Why is it so bad?
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Interesting. This isn’t my experience at all. I’ve been going to the Kennedy Center frequently over the past 30 years. I’ve don’t recall ventilation problems that affected my enjoyment of the experience. The only place I’ve heard of the acoustics being a problem was in the Concert Hall, but those were significantly improved during a renovation a decade ago, and I have little problem with sightlines except when seated along the edges of the orchestra section in the Opera House. It remains the premier location for theater, opera, and symphonic concerts in the DC area. I can’t speak for the performance spaces at The Reach, but I haven’t heard bad things.
 
weezie said:
Rubenstein is a wonderful man, a fine Duke representative and a patriotic American. I'm very proud of him.

The Kennedy Center is a mess. The acoustics are terrible, the ventilation is abysmal, the sightlines are awful and the people who work there seem dispirited and bored.
So much money has been poured into the place, Why is it so bad?
Click to expand...
LOL, Weezie, and not to be cynical, but, PERHAPS, it is because the Kennedy Center has been run for decades (the board) by political hacks and Washington bureaucrats?
 
duke79 said:
LOL, Weezie, and not to be cynical, but, PERHAPS, it is because the Kennedy Center has been run for decades (the board) by political hacks and Washington bureaucrats?
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According to JB Duke and AI, the Kennedy Center has good acoustics. I trust them. duke79 - have you ever even been there? Do you (or weezie) have a background in acoustics? It seems like JBDuke is a frequent visitor and is at least somewhat knowledgeable. weezie appears to have at least been there so though her opinion seems to differ from consensus, there is some basis for it.

But every. thing. has. to . be . politicized.

So much more to say but I enjoy posting here and apparently we are on a very short leash.

I give up.
 
CrazyNotCrazie said:
According to JB Duke and AI, the Kennedy Center has good acoustics. I trust them. duke79 - have you ever even been there? Do you (or weezie) have a background in acoustics? It seems like JBDuke is a frequent visitor and is at least somewhat knowledgeable. weezie appears to have at least been there so though her opinion seems to differ from consensus, there is some basis for it.

But every. thing. has. to . be . politicized.

So much more to say but I enjoy posting here and apparently we are on a very short leash.

I give up.
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LOL, CNC, no, I have never been inside the Kennedy Center or attended any events there. (However, I have watched on TV and enjoyed, over the years, the Kennedy Center awards - Heart's rendition of "Stairway to Heaven" is one of the best covers of any song I have ever heard. See link:
.
I was simply commenting on Weezie's opinion that the Center is badly run (and I have read this in other pieces). IF that is the case (and I realize other people may disagree), I'm simply throwing out a POSSIBLE explanation. If anyone else has a more accurate explanation, I'm "all ears".
 
duke79 said:
LOL, CNC, no, I have never been inside the Kennedy Center or attended any events there.
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So in other words, you are ignorant of the situation.

To malign David Rubenstein here is beyond words. I'd really like to know how your credentials stack up against his.
 
I mean this in a totally apolitical way:

So, if the reasons are to be believed and Rubenstein is being removed because it has been mismanaged, the solution then to put someone in charge that (a) if they were doing their day job correctly would not have any time whatsoever for this gig and (b) if they aren’t doing their day job correctly, we’ll give them another job based on that performance?

That is asinine. And I meant what i said as a preface - if Joe Biden tried to do this, everything I said above would apply.
 
weezie said:
Rubenstein is a wonderful man, a fine Duke representative and a patriotic American. I'm very proud of him.

The Kennedy Center is a mess. The acoustics are terrible, the ventilation is abysmal, the sightlines are awful and the people who work there seem dispirited and bored.
So much money has been poured into the place, Why is it so bad?
Click to expand...
Well, I disagree. It is a wonderful venue. The acoustics on the two major venues have been improved since it's opening 50 years ago. I have been comfortable there, although my visits are pretty much in spring and fall. I also dodge the high parking fees by living only a few blocks away.
 
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