Censorship seem far worse than satire

Before burning down the ascforum blog in the manner of some righteously-indignant hysterical mob trashing a newspaper office in some frontier town, why not just hire an outside consulting firm for big bucks to determine if Lafcadio’s political satires are protected or not by First Amendment freedoms? Or just think it through yourselves. Do we promote critical thinking here at UT or not? Review the evidence on the blog itself. Censorship seems far worse than satire.

Controversy Over Magic Bus Posting. Your Input Requested.

The new "Magic Bus" posting below has attracted some adverse criticism. Someone says it is blatantly racist because of the outfit worn by the person who is apparently supposed to be the Dean and who is depicted in the lower right hand corner. I asked the creator who says it is not racist, nor was it intended as such. "It is satire," says the creator. The same author also contibuted the post above the Magic Bus with the leash and the couple, apparently also a satire, one of whom is wearing what seems to be the same outfit, which does not seem to be racist to critics.

The question I would like to put to the public that reads this blog, and we have already heard much from one of you, is this: Should we remove this posting?

Speaking as blog facilitator, I would like to do the right thing. The author has suggested cropping the photo to eliminate the controversial part.

What do you think?

Getting Away

I would like to move away from Jake and his bus for a few moments. That Arts and Sciences is faced with problems with the dean, the provost and the president cannot be questioned. But, it is only a part of the problem. We have, in some ways, been our own worst enemy. Whenever challenged about curriculum we puff out our chests and yell, "we are the liberal arts." This is hardly a convincing answer. We need to do more than whine. We need to have convincing arguments about why a student should take a variety of courses and not merely mouth that they need to be liberally educated. Ask yourself exactly what you remember from the "liberal arts" part of your undergraduate education? What value did the in-class professor add to that education? How have you used that portion of your education? Do you even remember what classes constituted that part of your education? How many of us have looked back at our undergraduate transcripts and said, "I took that class?" The point is not to embarrass those of us who only vaguely remember the 60s but to point out that merely reciting a mantra that includes "we are the liberal arts" is not good enough.

This Letter went to all A&S Faculty from ASC Executive Committee in Response to the "Throw the Dean Under the Bus" emails

Dear A&S faculty;

Many of you have already seen the e-mails between the President and the Provost reproduced below. They are the result of an independent investigation on the part of students who care deeply about the College. The e-mails were written in April soon after the administration was first presented with the vote of no-confidence in the college’s leadership.
We have serious concerns about both the tone and the content of the e-mails. We believe that they are evidence of disregard, disrespect, and even outright duplicity toward the A&S Council and the faculty we represent (as well as toward the Dean).

In these e-mails, the faculty of Arts and Sciences (“the A&S folk”) are accused of “bad behavior,” and corrective action in the College office is understood as “rewarding bad behavior.” This is simply incredible coming from a university president. As Andy Jorgensen puts it, “the Council did exactly what it should have done - pointed out the limitations of College leadership - and did so in a careful and deliberate fashion in an open meeting characterized by facts and after 9 months of attempting to make the situation work. This is what faculty leaders do.”

We reject the assertion that we were “badly behaved” and henceforth expect and demand that the administration make decisions for the good of the College and its students, not for the purposes of punishing the faculty and the students we teach. The President and Provost will have to prove not merely with defensive words but with actions that they are worthy of our trust.

Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about the imposition of an agenda without any consultation with faculty leadership. Contrary to principles of transparency, openness and negotiation that we adopt as faculty in the arts and sciences, the e-mails show that reorganization was planned in advance and doggedly pursued without any thought of public discussion or real consultation with the faculty whose expertise is singularly important in these matters.

If this administration wants to achieve any of its goals, it will have to respond seriously to the students and faculty of this institution. One cannot run a university with no concern for its historical mission and by eviscerating the largest college on its campus. The e-mails released this week do not inspire confidence that the administration either understands or knows how to run a large, diverse, and intellectually spirited college such as the College of Arts and Sciences.

The A&S Council Executive Committee will call a special meeting of the Council shortly before the beginning of the Fall semester to consider our position.

Sincerely,
Lawrence Anderson-Huang,
Charlie Creutz,
David Davis,
Renee Heberle,
Ray Marchionni,
Brian Patrick, and
Linda Rouillard (for Ruth Hottell).

Preparing Jake's Bus

It is unclear at the moment whether President Jacobs will be driving, riding or underneath.

Poll Results

I was talking to a colleague a few weeks ago and he mentioned that Jacobs had accomplished what he thought to be impossible -- he made Kapoor look not so bad. So I thought I'd put up a poll and see how the blog visitors felt about who was the worst of the recent UT presidents.

One hundred eighteen votes were cast and the results were:

• William Decatur - 2 (1.7%)
• Frank Horton - 0 (0%)
• Lloyd Jacobs - 82 (69.5%)
• Daniel Johnson - 2 (1.7%)
• Vik Kapoor - 32 (27.1%)

One comment on IHE said my poll was "gloomy." Another said that many faculty either weren't here for the other presidents or couldn't remember how much Kapoor was disliked. So ok, let's have a "sunny" poll asking who the blog readers think was the best of those same presidents and see how things turn out.

The fun begins...

The link below leads to the Inside Higher Ed article re Jacobs and the Provost's emails on throwing the Dean under the bus. There are many spirited comments attached to this article as well on the Inside Higher Ed site.


Indeed.