Stanford’s abrupt decision, announced this morning, to pull out of competition to build a science and engineering campus in New York City, is spinning heads. The NYT’s City Room blog says that until Stanford officials sent a statement to reporters about 11 a.m. Pacific time, “there had been no public sign that the university’s commitment to the $2 billion project had wavered.” Cornell was seen as Stanford’s chief rival for the project, announced with great fanfare a year ago. Add: Stanford President John Hennessy (pictured)), in his statement, says the university’s trustees made the decision to end its involvement this morning.
