The words John A. Paulson Center in big white letters outside a $1.2 billion behemoth on the New York University campus deliver an unfortunate lesson: If a hedge-fund billionaire donates enough money, he can secure an agreement to have a building named after him regardless of his values.
Instead of honoring an alum whose current goal is to put Donald Trump back into office, NYU would impart a priceless lesson if it replaced Paulson’s name with that of Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis, a graduate who personifies a greatness of spirit that cannot be measured in dollars.
Zanetis was the kind of student a great education institution strives to produce: a stellar scholar-athlete who became a hero New York City firefighter, a decorated combat rescue helicopter pilot who helped save nearly 100 wounded soldiers in a three-month period, an LGBTQ veterans advocate, and a Stanford Law School graduate. He was just starting out with a prestigious firm in 2018 when he was deployed to Iraq, where he was killed in a crash at the age of 37. NYU and the FDNY and the military joined in staging a memorial service in Washington Square Park, the very place where he graduated with the class of 2003.
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“As NYU’s president, I often talk in speeches and at parents meetings of the type of student we hope to nurture here at NYU—leaders committed to public service, engaged with their communities, and dedicated to making a positive impact in the world,” Andrew Hamilton, who then headed the university, told the gathering. “I could not imagine a better example of that ideal student than Tripp.”
A positive impact on the world. Presumably, that is what investor John Paulson thought he would make when he poured some of the billions he made, by shorting the housing market before the subprime mortgage crisis, into education and other fine causes. But whatever good he did with his money has been tarnished by his financial support for an ex-president who is a stain on the history of this country and may soon soil the American legacy again.
Zanetis, on the other hand, embodied the kind of goodness and courage that a billionaire’s money can’t buy. He was a sophomore living three blocks from the World Trade Center on 9/11 and he ran into danger, doing whatever he could in the fiery ruins into the night.
“The one thing I remember him saying after 9/11 was that he couldn’t help, because there was nothing to help; nobody to help, because everybody was dead,” his mother, Sarah Zanetis, later told The Daily Beast. “He decided he wanted to do more.”
After graduation, Zanetris joined the FDNY and also enlisted in the New York Air National Guard and became a combat rescue helicopter pilot, deploying to Iraq and then to Afghanistan, where he flew with fellow firefighter and reservist Shaun Cullen.
“The thing about Tripp is he had a tremendous amount of courage,” Cullen later said. “So, you never had to worry about if he would waver or not. He was always going to be there either to make the rescue, whether it was on the fire floor or on the battlefield.”
Between missions, Zanetis became that rare morale officer who actually lifts morale, encouraging everyone to join in CrossFit workouts. That included Prince Harry, whose British unit shared the same base.
“Even Prince Harry did burpees for Tripp,” Air Force Lt. Col. John Schulz recalled.
After his second deployment, attended Stanford Law School and then extended his leave from the FDNY to work as a litigation associate at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. He continued to fly with the Air National guard and deployed a third time in January 2018, again to Iraq. He was on a night mission near the Syrian border on March 15 when his helicopter struck a power line and crashed, killing all seven aboard, including FDNY Lt. Christopher Raguso.
On March 29, 2018, eight FDNY pallbearers in dress uniform bore Zanetis’ flag-covered coffin under the arch in Washington Square Park and placed it beside twin variations of the battlefield cross. In each, an inverted rifle was replaced by a fire ax and a Halligan tool. Combat boots were replaced by fire boots. Combat helmets were replaced by fire helmets, the one on the right with the number 11 representing his time in Ladder 11, the other marked Fire Marshal. Both were on wooden stands inscribed with ZANETIS in big block letters, just as it would be on the back of a turnout coat, just as it should now outside the NYU behemoth.
At a gathering following the funeral, firefighter and combat veterans and LGBTQ activists and social justice attorneys and fledgling legal wheeler-dealers and students and family members were joined together by the same spirit that united the whole country after 9/11.
FDNY Lt. Pete Sapienza was among those at the memorial who had hoped Zanetis would go on into politics.
“Every single person… would have run to campaign for him,” Sapienza said.
“I sometimes wonder what this country, even this world would look like if Tripp got his hands on it.”
His NYU roommate got a text from a friend of Zanetis saying, “He was supposed to be the first gay president.”
Instead, we got a president whose administration trampled on LGBTQ protections, who packed the courts with judges hostile to gay rights, and who has vowed to implement anti-trans policies if elected again—all with the help of Paulson, who raised $50.5 million for Trump at his home last month and co-hosted another fundraiser for him on Tuesday night.
NYU is not likely to void the gift agreement with Paulson, but Paulson could do that himself. He could show he is not just another self-aggrandizing billionaire and redeem himself by tearing up the gift agreement and insisting the honor go to someone who better deserves it. He would then have genuine cause to be proud every time he passed the Christopher ”Tripp” Zanetis Center.
