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.