The NCC president is out; long live the NCC president
My college sent out an email two weeks ago tomorrow to announce that, following the end of her leave of absence at the end of July, the new president would not be returning to her position. The wording was benign, calling her student-focused, and the college wished her well in her future endeavors, and also she'd be staying in higher education. This was the inevitable conclusion for the saga, even if it came two months too late for Dr. K.
When he and I talked last week Saturday, I wasn't going to bring up the announcement, but he did. I also gained more insight into why she is no longer there. The day of the bus incident with the band, she was supposed to be in a staff meeting with approximately 200 non-faculty people who worked at the college. Instead, she chose what she chose. That meeting got postponed until the end of the school year, in April, at which point her proposed changes were announced, I believe part of which involved staffing cuts and money cuts. Whatever those things were, people objected, particularly going, why wasn't this mentioned before now? One of the meeting's leaders apologized for not mentioning it earlier, and then the president grabbed the reins and went, I'm not apologizing; I have nothing to apologize for. She was put on leave the next day. By that point, enough damage had been done that the board of trustees knew she couldn't stay any longer.
This past Friday, another email went out announcing that someone who'd been part of campus for nearly a decade would be made president. He was the interim president while the previous one was on leave, and the one student I've talked with was excited to have this guy as the interim, and now is excited that he's taking over the whole shebang and believes he will be great for the college. He's been there long enough that he knows what's going on, knows the faculty, and should be a much better fit for the school.
I continue to have mixed feelings on the subject, but at least the massacre that had been the one-year president's term is over. How someone could be such an ill fit, I don't know. Maybe she was an English major and knew how to gloss over things in trying to get hired. The college is going to have to pick up a lot of pieces and mend a few fences in order to move forward.
The initial email I got said, in small print at the bottom, that if one had questions, to send them to such-and-such email address. I've definitely wanted to do that but I have to figure out what I want to say and how to say it. What's done is done and we have to move forward, but I wonder if there is a way to move forward while still acknowledging what happened to Dr. K and to try to help him out since he will still have a tie to campus. This is where I'm holding back a little, because I don't want to make anything worse, yet this whole situation changed how I felt about my school, and I'm still on the fence about how much I want to participate in the future--and it's my reunion year, too.
Recently I came across a quote that feels relevant to the situation, from an article about Welcome to Wrexham of all things, discussing what it's like to be a leader over a group. This is from Rob McElhenney and was quoted in the Tribune on 5-12-24.
As chairmen [with Ryan Reynolds] of a football club, we have to hold ourselves to a different standard. We have to have at least a modicum of decorum in our exchanges about how we talk about things, because these are human beings, not characters on a screen. These are not athletes who mean nothing to us. These are our friends. These are our employees. These are people who we have to treat with dignity, grace and respect, and to recognize that this is their livelihood... .
Anyone in a position of power should take these thoughts to heart. Act with dignity and treat others with dignity. You get the respect you give. And if you act disrespectfully, expect there to be pushback.
When he and I talked last week Saturday, I wasn't going to bring up the announcement, but he did. I also gained more insight into why she is no longer there. The day of the bus incident with the band, she was supposed to be in a staff meeting with approximately 200 non-faculty people who worked at the college. Instead, she chose what she chose. That meeting got postponed until the end of the school year, in April, at which point her proposed changes were announced, I believe part of which involved staffing cuts and money cuts. Whatever those things were, people objected, particularly going, why wasn't this mentioned before now? One of the meeting's leaders apologized for not mentioning it earlier, and then the president grabbed the reins and went, I'm not apologizing; I have nothing to apologize for. She was put on leave the next day. By that point, enough damage had been done that the board of trustees knew she couldn't stay any longer.
This past Friday, another email went out announcing that someone who'd been part of campus for nearly a decade would be made president. He was the interim president while the previous one was on leave, and the one student I've talked with was excited to have this guy as the interim, and now is excited that he's taking over the whole shebang and believes he will be great for the college. He's been there long enough that he knows what's going on, knows the faculty, and should be a much better fit for the school.
I continue to have mixed feelings on the subject, but at least the massacre that had been the one-year president's term is over. How someone could be such an ill fit, I don't know. Maybe she was an English major and knew how to gloss over things in trying to get hired. The college is going to have to pick up a lot of pieces and mend a few fences in order to move forward.
The initial email I got said, in small print at the bottom, that if one had questions, to send them to such-and-such email address. I've definitely wanted to do that but I have to figure out what I want to say and how to say it. What's done is done and we have to move forward, but I wonder if there is a way to move forward while still acknowledging what happened to Dr. K and to try to help him out since he will still have a tie to campus. This is where I'm holding back a little, because I don't want to make anything worse, yet this whole situation changed how I felt about my school, and I'm still on the fence about how much I want to participate in the future--and it's my reunion year, too.
Recently I came across a quote that feels relevant to the situation, from an article about Welcome to Wrexham of all things, discussing what it's like to be a leader over a group. This is from Rob McElhenney and was quoted in the Tribune on 5-12-24.
As chairmen [with Ryan Reynolds] of a football club, we have to hold ourselves to a different standard. We have to have at least a modicum of decorum in our exchanges about how we talk about things, because these are human beings, not characters on a screen. These are not athletes who mean nothing to us. These are our friends. These are our employees. These are people who we have to treat with dignity, grace and respect, and to recognize that this is their livelihood... .
Anyone in a position of power should take these thoughts to heart. Act with dignity and treat others with dignity. You get the respect you give. And if you act disrespectfully, expect there to be pushback.