What an incredibly dramatic comment. Are you being serious right now? HN is not remotely representative of the general population, much less undergraduate student population.
And most students aren't going to let their anti-authoritarian angst/daddy issues get in the way of an easy commute and good night's sleep.
Authority doesn't have to be bad, as long as it's justified, or at the very least as long as the authority exists to meet the needs of those under authority.
If you design a student dorm for example, the best design will take into account what is best for the students, according to the students. Okay, we can introduce authority into it, and assign some staff to decide what would be best for them. But either way, the "input" to this process would be the needs of the students.
I don't think it should be controversial to say that constructing the dorm based on plans from a rich hobby-architect donor is not in the best interest of the students, and that it is impossible to consider this justified or beneficial authority towards the students. The argument of "some discomfort will do them good" does not convince me, unfortunately.
I find it difficult to see this donor's story as anything other than self-congratulatory megalomania, but if you see it differently, I honestly hope you're right!
And most students aren't going to let their anti-authoritarian angst/daddy issues get in the way of an easy commute and good night's sleep.