THE SPECTRUM THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950
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UBSPECTRUM
Graphic by: Cait Di Vita
VOL. 68 NO. 46 | APRIL 25, 2019
Chefs, drugs and rock n’ roll
Inside the legendary career of UB alum and retired music mogul Shep Gordon
BRENTON J. BLANCHET, BRIAN EVANS MANAGING EDITOR, SENIOR ARTS EDITOR
Shep Gordon’s parents brought their son to a Queens Greyhound station in the summer of 1964 and loaded his bags onto a midnight bus to Buffalo. Once Gordon, a ‘68 alum and retired music mogul, got off the bus, he and a friend decided to hitchhike all the way to Buffalo State College, where they heard “beautiful women” attended school. And when they arrived at what they believed was Buff State, they saw a giant fence. The two were confused, but in true teenage-boy fashion, still hopped over the barrier to get to the girls. But instead of finding themselves surrounded by “beautiful women,” they found themselves in a mental institution. Gordon couldn’t resist laughing at this punchline, which he delivered like a comedy pro at 73 years old. And even in a documentary about his life,“Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon,” Gordon refers to his college experience as “the best years
of his life;” years where he was politically active, experimented with drugs and pulled historic pranks. To most, however, these years wouldn’t top making Alice Cooper famous, creating the concept of a “celebrity chef ” or bringing the Dalai Lama to one’s alma mater; all of which Gordon has accomplished and mastered. Those years paid off too, as Gordon now resides in Maui, fully retired from the management business, with the exception of Cooper. And all of the LSD, acid, marijuana, codeine and cough syrup that Gordon toyed with during his college years and in his early career haven’t hindered his memory. If anything, they’ve enhanced it, he said. “Taking the drugs was a part of the experience of liberating yourself,” Gordon said. “We’d get really stupid a lot of times because we didn’t know why we were doing them. It was very innocent in a way, where it turned into something not innocent later in life.” Gordon, who lived off campus throughout his time at UB, said his drug use was more exploratory than anything else. But when he wasn’t exploring drugs, he used his college years as a way to stay politically active. He publically burned draft cards to protest the Vietnam War and said this activism played a role in shaping his career.
“I had the feeling that, ‘Wow, this worked.’ The war ended. You can affect history,” Gordon said. “That’s the way I felt. … That gave me the confidence to go out after Buffalo and do the kind of things that I did because I really felt like, for the first time, I was an important part of what happened on this planet.” But Gordon didn’t just impact history he and his pranks specifically impacted Buffalo history. In his early years at UB, Gordon was a recruiter for fraternity COURTESY OF UB SMUGMUG music mogul Shep Gordon holds a copy Sigma Alpha Mu and sought UB Retired of his documentary, which Mike Myers made freshmen in Allentown. While re- about his life. Gordon often refers to his time at cruiting, he met several biology UB as some of the greatest years of his life. students, all of whom were laughcided, let’s see if we can pull a hoax on the ing over the name “Thallus of Marchan- city of Buffalo,” Gordon said. “We got a tia,” or the scientific name for a fern’s sex friend in New York City to go the United organ. Nations Western Union office, and send Gordon and his new friends realized a telegram to the mayor of Buffalo that that the name ‘Thallus of Marchantia” the ‘Thallus of Marchantia’ was making funnily sounded like the title of a head of his first royal visit to America, and he has state in a foreign country. Armed with this family that lives in Buffalo.” realization, Gordon and friend Artie Shein Gordon thought the telegram would be decided to organize a prank visit to Buf- the end. In reality, it was only the beginfalo for the “Thallus of Marchantia,” and ning. earned the attention of The Buffalo News in Schein flew to New York in order to the process. “One thing led to another, and we de> SEE CHEFS | PAGE 6 program. Student Association the“You see bulls all around campus, we picks up Sign-A-Bull didn’t want that to be lost from campus so program after Student the e-board decided they want to conEngagement’s tinue that tradition,” Brown said. discontinuation Brown said there’s
Seniors excited following SA’s commitment to continue tradition BENJAMIN BLANCHET EDITORIAL EDITOR
DATA COURTESY OF CYNTHIA KHOO-ROBINSON UB has over 268,000 alumni across all 50 states and 150 countries, with roughly 39,000 alumni living overseas, according to Cynthia Khoo-Robinson, associate vice president for alumni engagement and annual giving. Over 12,000 alumni donate money to UB annually and over 7,500 volunteer a collective 30,000 hours.
probably a “thousand names” on a single bull and its important to continue the tradition since students care about the program. He said the logistics are still being worked out with Student Engagement, which has given SA tips on where it gets the bull from. Thompson went down to the Student Engagement office last week asking for details of the program only to find that it had been discontinued due to issues of staffing and capacity. Thompson said Jude Butch, Student Engagement’s senior associate director, told her no students were a part of the decision-making process. Butch did not confirm this in time for publication. Thompson was concerned that Student Engagement didn’t announce they had discontinued the program. She believes the program is a way for students to “leave a legacy for many years to come.” Butch, in an email, wrote that Student
Seniors will still be able to continue UB’s tradition of signing a painted buffalo before graduating in May. The Student Association committed to host the Sign-A-Bull program last week after a student questioned Student Engagement’s choice to discontinue it. SA, in a press release to The Spectrum, wrote that members have decided to continue the “great tradition” and will work with Student Engagement to figure out the logistics of getting a bull to UB. This will be the eighth year of the program, according to UB’s website, and students said they were “excited” to leave a physical mark to commemorate their time at UB. “It doesn’t really matter how that has come to be, I’m just thankful that it’s happened,” said Katherine Thompson, a senior chemistry major. SA Chief of Staff Jacob Brown, a graduating senior, said it was BENJAMIN BLANCHET | THE SPECTRUM Sign-A-Bull program would have been 8 years old this year under Student important for the The Engagement. Bulls appear across campus and feature hundreds of signatures student govern- from graduating seniors. ment to continue > SEE SIGN-A-BULL | PAGE 7