DEPARTMENTAL
WARFARE AT BC
Brooklyn College Kingsman, 10
March 2003, editorial
In the midst of the type of interdepartmental
warfare (the type we've seen in the history department), concerned
students are involving themselves in the battle to keep the rights right.
While student participation in departmental and
administrative wars is unquestionably laudable, the question should be
raised of whether it is healthy.
A number of students spent over 100 hours of their
time participating in what is undoubtedly the best example of
interdepartmental ideological warfare this campus (and the history
department) has had.
KC Johnson's appointment for tenure, as Johnson
admits, would either not have happened at all or would have taken much
longer had certain courageous and selfless students not imposed on the
history department's feud.
By coordinating allies, campaigns, collecting
student signatures on postcards, relentlessly writing letters, and
attending meetings and hearings, students were able to aid what is
normally a college-based process to ensure that Johnson won tenure.
Imagine what other things these congratulatory
students could have been putting their time to had they not been fighting
a departmental war.
It's sad, but true. Ideological wars are forcing
students to fight for causes that should be resolved at the department and
college levels.
If departments would resolve their disputes more
maturely, students such as those who fought for Johnson could find more
constructive outlets for their dedication.
Furthermore, cases such as Johnson's, where hurtful
epithets were thrown around and accusations, true and false, were made,
reduce the amount of faith students have in participating professors, both
inside and outside the classroom.
For the sake of the students, most of whom have
better things to do, decisions such as Johnson's should be made more
maturely and efficiently. We wouldn't want to see a student's grades drop
because he/she was fighting to keep a qualified professor in office. |