(And now for an Out-of-State Elitist -esque post.)
Never have I felt more like I am in a dystopian world. And it isn't even a cool one with archery and hovercrafts.
Let's picture a world where a man is fired from his job for doing it too well.
As some, or possibly none, of you know the UO president recently did not have his contract renewed (read: fired). And no one is happy about this. My basic understanding--and it is basic--is that our President was fired for making the UO better. He took steps to assure our success, no matter future state academic changes, but this is apparently unacceptable because as a public university we are supposed to be on par with the other state universities, not above them. There are other issues too: the board did not consult the faculty before firing Lariviere, etc.
I was not able to attend the meeting that happened earlier today, but the sense I got is that you do not want to anger elderly academics. Professors verbally attacked the board members and are demanding separate boards, one for each public university in Oregon. And Lariviere left the meeting to a standing ovation. Also this whole timing? Totally rigged. Why not wait until students have to go to class and are so swamped with work that they can't attend meetings or protests?
Normally I'm not one to be interested in politics of any sort. (I lack political efficacy--the most important term I learned in AP Gov). But this will greatly affect our university. Who will step up to take the place of a man fired for doing good? And when someone does they will never have the guts to do anything great themselves. This is seriously bad press; counter-acting all that the president did to raise us in national and international standings.
And really, you wouldn't fire Chip Kelly for making UO better at football than Eastern Oregon.
Anyway you probably won't here much more from me on the topic of the board's search for a mediocre president, but it was on my mind after the first 30 minutes of my history class was spent discussing the issue. It's a scary place out there.
In Other News...
Dead Week. Never has there been a more accurate title. Two papers in two days accomplished without my death. Their quality? To be determined.
Christmas break in a week!
