PHILADELPHIA _ When Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said he was giving $25 million to Abington Senior High School, he said in a news release that investing in public education "yields one of the best returns imaginable _ a new generation of creative, capable and collaborative future leaders."
For Schwarzman there was another, far more personal, return _ his name on his alma mater, which the school board voted unanimously this week to rename the school Abington Schwarzman High School.
Shortly after the board vote, residents vented over the move on Facebook, calling it "insane," "egotistical," and "stupid."
"The stadium is already named after him. That's enough. Too much ego," one commenter wrote.
Superintendent Amy Sichel did not respond to a request for comment. Schwarzman couldn't be reached for comment.
School Board President Raymond McGarry said he always understood there would be naming rights tied to the donation. As discussions about the agreement progressed, the idea of naming the entire school after the philanthropist arose. "My sense is that the ask came from Mr. Schwarzman," McGarry said.
He said everyone agreed that the school should still have Abington in its name, and the new name will retain the school's abbreviation, ASHS.
Last month, the district announced that the wealthy businessman and close friend of President Donald Trump would give the $25 million to his old school, where he starred in track and won the student council presidency. Sichel, who has known Schwarzman for more than a decade and attended his 70th birthday party last year at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, said she had been talking to him for more than a year about the gift.
Sichel has said the money will transform education at the 1950s-era high school, and will be used to build a science and technology wing and renovate the high school from which Schwarzman graduated in 1965. The school will be renamed when the renovation is complete, expected to be in September 2022.
One other condition of the gift, said a person familiar with the agreement but spoke on the condition of anonymity, was that Schwarzman would be notified if the district sells naming rights to any other benefactors.
In 2004, Sichel also lobbied Schwarzman to donate to the district's $1 million fund drive for a stadium, which was named Schwarzman Stadium.
McGarry said that while it's unusual for a public school to sell naming rights, "it's also not typical for a public high school to get $25 million."
He said he understood that some people might be upset at the name change. His response, he said, was that if the state properly funded schools, school boards wouldn't have to rely on private funding.
"Our hands are tied in how we can raise revenue. We can raise taxes and nobody likes that," he said. "With the current assault in public education on the federal level, we're forced to look in other directions for funding sources."
