Sunday, September 13, 2009
Evelyn Comments on the Daily Wildcat Podcast 9-11-09
Congratulations to Arizona Daily Wildcat Managing Editor, Shain Bergen, for his insightful analysis presented in the Daily Wildcat podcast of Friday, September 11 of the ever growing controversy surrounding President Shelton and Provost Hay. Bergen, during an interview with Wildcat Online Editor, Bryan Roy, concludes that there is less and less support for Shelton and Hay on the UA campus and that opposition to their continued leadership is gathering momentum. Bergen states during the interview that many faculty and staff are talking to him off the record about their displeasure with the Shelton/Hay administration, but fear that going on the record will result in retaliatory dismissal from their positions at the UA. Interestingly, Bergen also reports that their have been some calls that have been supportive of Shelton and Hay, but these people have also expressed fear when asked to publicly comment. One might speculate that there is such an overwhelming lack of confidence in Shelton and Hay that those who still support their policies are unwilling to step forward for fear of ridicule and condemnation. That is unfortunate, because we at the UADefender believe that the conversations we're currently having online and those we're beginning to have in departments around campus are valuable and will lead to careful and thoughtful decisions about next steps for the UA. We point out that if President Shelton and Provost Hay had allowed and sought the type of discussions we see on the Defender instead of making insulated decisions and rulings by decree, they might have made different and better decisions and they certainly would have made those most impacted by their decisions, the students, staff and faculty, feel heard and perhaps even valued and empowered. That moment has passed for President Shelton and Provost Hay and it is now time for them to move aside and allow us to find the "world-class" leadership this great university deserves.
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If those called to support Shelton and Hay showed fear of revealing their names then it wasn't fear of the administration but fear of their extreme colleagues who would immediately retaliate. Retaliation occurs in many forms on this website and campus, either by NOT posting comments such as this, or retaliation by disparaging opposite points of view publicly, calling those in support of Shelton/Hay in the pockets of the administration. For example those that say Garcia's firing was justified get called racists, and many worse events that cannot be expressed here. Yet when we call those that criticize Hay, Burd and Howell sexists those comments don't get posted.
ReplyDeleteAt no place in this blog has Evelyn or any of the commentators suggested that Hay, Burd or Howell are incompetent because they are women. The postings have said that they are incompetent because some or many of their actions have demonstrated a lack of competence. For another view of how this administration supports women in higher education, read the UADefender posting entitled "Hay's and Shelton's Breach of Trust", which details the apparent dishonesty surrounding the attempted hiring of six female professors under the Faculty Diversity Initiative.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous from above: I am happy that your email was posted because it confirms the importance of this blog, which has remained very civilized by the way. For more than a year now the central administration has dominated the discourse at this university. We the faculty (or most of us) sit in the dark and read these dry messages that tell us nothing. Then we see that the shreds of faculty governance not completely aligned with the central administration is subverted or pushed aside. Yes, we have a culture of fear as you point out, maybe on both sides of the issues, but it wasn't the people who started this blog who created and fostered that culture of fear.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised, on so many levels, that I have to write this comment and point out the obvious. I can't help but feel that the same people who are afraid to support the status quo at the moment are the same people who were ashamed to admit that they voted for George W a second time around. I am not just trying to agitate. I do think that there is an ideological divide at the heart of these debates. This blog gives voice to a side of the story that has been stifled. This blog is a relatively benign and productive way for these views to come out.
Enough already. WHEN are Lynn and Wanda going to stand up and ask the faculty to vote, once and for all, for a vote of no confidence in the administration?
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this group is so small and that most faculty are so spineless when it comes to standing up for themselves, that nothing will happen. Nothing. Like it always does at the U of A.