Tufts University on Thursday announced the immediate removal of the Sackler name from all buildings and programs at its medical school, with leaders citing the family's role in the nation's opioid crisis. The decision is among the most dramatic rebukes leveled by a growing list of institutions that have cut ties with the Sackler family. The family owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of the addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin, and has donated millions to colleges, universities and museums. The university, which is not accepting new Sackler donations, also plans an education exhibit inside the medical school to explain the Sackler family's involvement and teach lessons from the opioid epidemic.
I added this story because I saw it as an effect of the opioid crisis that I would almost consider "positive". We are not used to big institutions taking a stand to large corporations, especially big donors like the Sacklers. Hearing about this has shown me that institutions are waking up to the harmful effefcts of spreading a name that is associated with such destruction. Also, Tufts is adding an education center about the Sackler's connection to the opioid crisis, which I find really beneficial because they are taking a negative part of their school's history, and are using as a way to teach others about how the current opioid crisis began.
#geog203 #social
