I’ve long admired Walter Williams and enjoyed his commentaries, and I want to draw your attention to the Townhall.com column he published on July 5 (https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2017/07/05/colleges-islands-of-intolerance-n2349890)
This is a bulls-eye for Dr. Williams: “The primary blame for the incivility and downright stupidly we see on university campuses lies with the university’s trustees… who are little more than yes men for the university president and provost.”
The trustees control the universities’ purse strings, and they’ve been letting faculty and students get away with overt barbarism. This is because, says Williams, they’re busy with other things and just “not interested” in taking an active part in how their universities behave.
Well, they’d better get interested, and soon. This has gone more than far enough.
Thanks. You found it fast – must be well organized, lol
The whole system is broken. It’s not about education, it’s about influence and prominence. To use Williams’ own words: “Every board of trustees has fiduciary responsibility for the governance of a university, shaping its broad policies. Unfortunately, most trustees are wealthy businessmen who are busy and aren’t interested in spending time on university matters. They become trustees for the prestige it brings, and as such, they are little more than yes men for the university president and provost.”
It’s become a matter of prestige and little else. Universities today have buildings named after various benefactors, many of whom donate just to see their names engraved on the side of a building.
I don’t think I’d want my name on a building where the men’s rest room has a tampon dispenser.
🙂