Liberal, cry-baby bigots.
I'm afraid that's how history is going to remember us, the Ohio University community of 2006-07.
We are so insecure, so averse to any change that we viciously turn on each other at a time when strength can only be found in unity.
The American higher education industry is evolving. Make no mistake; it is an industry, no matter how tightly we cling to our ivory-tower principles. And rather than even considering the notion that we might need to alter the way we do business, we ruthlessly condemn President McDavis for systemic problems ' many of which existed long before he took office.
We take our shared governance buzzwords and shove them down the throat of a president who has bent over backward to be accessible to all constituencies. I don't remember any other administration hosting Town Hall meetings. We crassly demand structural changes never even politely suggested to prior presidents.
Don't get me wrong; President McDavis is not above reproach. The decision to cut four sports programs without even giving alumni the opportunity to raise the paltry $685,000 saved might well go down as one of the biggest administrative blunders Athens has seen. But this president has put his heart and soul into running this university; he's done his best and doubtlessly learned things along the way.
So, here we are. Good, predominantly white, upper middle-class liberals. We burst into applause at the mere mention of the D-word ' diversity. After all, some of our best friends are black. But when we actually have to work with people who communicate differently than we do, our racism is deeply seated safely in our collective subconscious where it can never hurt us. Bring on another International Street Fair! I love all that foreign food.
Forget the myriad sins of Glidden; in 21st century America, it's still much easier to oust a black guy from a position of authority than a white one. Shame on us.
My employer, the College of Education, just played host to a group of faculty from all over the country for a reaccreditation site visit. I was playing chauffeur on one of the countless van trips from McCracken Hall to the OU Inn, and they started talking about the poor excuse for a no-confidence vote that came less than two years into McDavis' tenure. One examiner/professor wryly observed that this faculty doesn't waste any time passing judgment and stringing people up, two behaviors I would not want to model for my student body.
Much worse than harmless head-shaking are the outsiders who seize on our infighting as the perfect opportunity to go for the jugular. I've been working in the university for little more than a year now, and I have consistently wondered what we ever did to The Columbus Dispatch. Did we run over the editor's dog? Sleep with his wife? Why must they persecute us?
Regardless of the tack outsiders take, it's clear who's playing the fool here. We are. Each and every member of the OU community. And perhaps rightly so. Judge not
lest ye be judged.
Amy Robison writes from Athens. 17
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Letter to the Editor
