Academic Politics

I'm on a committee at the U, even though I pledged years ago to avoid all committees. The Arts and Sciences Dean and I had become friends, and he asked me to serve on a "Visiting Committee" to advise him about the great strides the College would take in the future. Shortly afterwards, he left for a better job at William and Mary.

So I sort of got stuck, and yesterday went to meet one of the prospective new Deans, an impressive woman from UF. Next week they've asked us to meet the other 3 candidates.

Of course, we have zero input into the decision. There's a "Search Committee" who THINKS they get to decide, but clearly the UM President will make the call. They will then say how all of the OTHER committees vetted the candidate, blah, blah, blah.

Dr. Barry has meetings like these all week. I don't see how he stomachs it. People, particularly academics, LOVE the hear themselves talk, and seem convinced they have deep, insightful gems to add to discussions.

The academic groupies, like me, can be even worse. At yesterday's meeting, there was another member named Lou, who spoke quite a bit. Lou is a millionaire investor of some type, originally from NYC. who has given a few nice gifts to the college, so he was asked to serve on the committee.

He made it very clear to all of us that he has so little time, because of ALL the other foundations he founded. He then mentioned that he was a bit disappointed with ALL of the candidates because none had Ivy League educations, which he thought was important for "attracting top scholars."

I asked him, later, where HE went to school. "City College." Oy. The irony that HE was obviously succesful with an educational pedigree LESS than he wanted to see was lost on him, as he went on about his OTHER NGOs...

I think I'm going to skip next week's meetings. I do love the College, and will happily meet the new Dean, whoever they pick.

I DO happen to think it's time for a woman to get the job. The current interim Dean is a woman, who did not make the final four, for, I guess, political reasons. Maybe she told the truth to someone at one of the many meetings.