Cancelling Dr. Seuss

[Wahoo Redux]

The controversy he's generating has nothing to do with teaching style or student success, however.  Rightly or wrongly, that is not what Haltigan is about here.

[marshwiggle]

The controversy he's generating has nothing to do with teaching style or student success, however.  Rightly or wrongly, that is not what Haltigan is about here.

The point I was making is that all of the required genuflection regarding diversity assumes it is important for student outcomes, but any actual direct emphasis on student outcomes is missing (and apparently irrelevant).

[dismalist]

Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":

     First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

    Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

[Wahoo Redux]

Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":

     First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

    Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

Interesting.  I'd never thought about those ideas before.

But I am missing a bit of the context here.  Can you explain?

[marshwiggle]

Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":

     First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

    Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

Interesting.  I'd never thought about those ideas before.

But I am missing a bit of the context here.  Can you explain?

I'm guessing in this context that diversity bureaucrats would be in the second group, focusing on adherence to hoop-jumping requirements rather than identifying people who actually work to support true diversity, regardless of whether it checks the correct boxes.

[Wahoo Redux]

NBC News: Using 'he/him' and 'she/her' in emails got 2 people fired at small Christian college

Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya, two former dorm directors at a small Christian university in western New York, acknowledge their names are unconventional, which explains why they attached gender identities to their work email signatures.

Wilmot uses "he/him." Zelaya goes by "she/her."

Their former employer, Houghton University, wanted them to drop the identifiers in line with a new policy for email formats implemented in September. Both refused and were fired.

[Wahoo Redux]

Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":

     First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

    Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

Interesting.  I'd never thought about those ideas before.

But I am missing a bit of the context here.  Can you explain?

I'm guessing in this context that diversity bureaucrats would be in the second group, focusing on adherence to hoop-jumping requirements rather than identifying people who actually work to support true diversity, regardless of whether it checks the correct boxes.

Well, that would make sense in this case.  I am afraid that, while I respect DEI efforts, all to often the effort is simply a box checking exercise.

Good to see you back, bub.

[kaysixteen]

Like it or not, the Houghton staffers, like the entire campus community, were told not to include any extraneous details in their sig files on their campus email accounts, and they disobeyed.   And, also like it or not, many conservative evangelicals do not think anyone should have to list 'their pronouns' anywhere, given, well, what that action implies.

[FishProf]

Reasonable people can disagree about what counts as 'extraneous' and there is a huge difference between 'have to' and 'are allowed to'.

There are small tyrannies everywhere.

[marshwiggle]

Like it or not, the Houghton staffers, like the entire campus community, were told not to include any extraneous details in their sig files on their campus email accounts, and they disobeyed.   And, also like it or not, many conservative evangelicals do not think anyone should have to list 'their pronouns' anywhere, given, well, what that action implies.

But this is an interesting case because for both of these people, their names were unfamiliar enough that people who had not met them in person might not have any idea how to address them. In other words, this does not necessarily have anything to do with gender identity and would be totally unnecessary in-person. (It's worth pointing out that this often happened in the past, and some people chose to go by initials in communication to avoid identifying their sex. The only difference now is that there is a mechanism typically used for a different purpose that can potentially be used.)

I'm curious to hear how this turns out.

[Wahoo Redux]

many conservative evangelicals do not think anyone should have to list 'their pronouns' anywhere,

What if they want to list their pronouns?

[ciao_yall]

Like it or not, the Houghton staffers, like the entire campus community, were told not to include any extraneous details in their sig files on their campus email accounts, and they disobeyed.   And, also like it or not, many conservative evangelicals do not think anyone should have to list 'their pronouns' anywhere, given, well, what that action implies.

How about a favorite Bible verse?

[dismalist]

Along these lines, a private institution can require what it pleases from its employees. People's tastes differ so they can sort themselves into differing institutions, but they have no right to say what they want at any given institution. It's an efficient way for people who disagree with each other to live peaceably.

A public institution is considered to be promulgating so-called "government speech" and cannot require anybody to say anything. Whether it must or may allow people to say things, even academically, is a somewhat surprisingly open question.

So long as there is competition, and we have 3500+ colleges and universities, it's a non-problem.

[marshwiggle]

many conservative evangelicals do not think anyone should have to list 'their pronouns' anywhere,

What if they want to list their pronouns?

An interesting question is whether they would have been able to, alternatively, simply list themselves as "Mr. Shua Wilmot" and "Ms. Reagan Zelaya", and whether they would have chosen to. That would serve the same purpose in principle.

[Wahoo Redux]

Along these lines, a private institution can require what it pleases from its employees. People's tastes differ so they can sort themselves into differing institutions, but they have no right to say what they want at any given institution. It's an efficient way for people who disagree with each other to live peaceably.

A public institution is considered to be promulgating so-called "government speech" and cannot require anybody to say anything. Whether it must or may allow people to say things, even academically, is a somewhat surprisingly open question.

So long as there is competition, and we have 3500+ colleges and universities, it's a non-problem.

Yes, we know that free speech is a government issue.  And we know that "competition" is a panacea for all our problems----at least in your mind.

Nevertheless, this scenario seems like extremism, a little hysteria, and some pretty bad PR.  Maybe even illegal.