How To Get Fired At A Baptist College

[spork]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/us/Linfield-university-professor-fired.html

[Aster]

It is interesting to me that a professor currently employed by the university is/was a member of the Board of Trustees.  I don't see that often. It's pretty nice.

But then it is ironic that discharging the responsibilities of that position ultimately resulted in the professor being fired.

[ciao_yall]

Man gets into a position of power, acts like a jerk. ZZZZZZ....

[Parasaurolophus]

Too bad the 'jerks' who sexually harassed women and cracked genocidal jokes weren't fired.

[Wahoo Redux]

This is bad news for a college already struggling.

https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2021/05/linfield-university-president-defends-firing-of-tenured-professor-says-he-has-no-plans-to-resign.html

[eigen]

It is interesting to me that a professor currently employed by the university is/was a member of the Board of Trustees.  I don't see that often. It's pretty nice.

But then it is ironic that discharging the responsibilities of that position ultimately resulted in the professor being fired.

Kinda highlights the fact that having a faculty member on the board of trustees (who is the body that can fire them) doesn't exactly lead to honest feedback in that position.

Best of my understanding from the articles, Linfield has removed the faculty and student positions from the BoT following this, has disbanded the faculty senate, and disbanded the student government.

[mahagonny]

It is interesting to me that a professor currently employed by the university is/was a member of the Board of Trustees.  I don't see that often. It's pretty nice.

But then it is ironic that discharging the responsibilities of that position ultimately resulted in the professor being fired.

Kinda highlights the fact that having a faculty member on the board of trustees (who is the body that can fire them) doesn't exactly lead to honest feedback in that position.

Or having a chair who's got a union that intentionally shuts out the majority of the faculty (non-TT) thereby making them sitting ducks to the whims of the chair and his coterie, and silenced as far as honest feedback.

Oh, sorry...pet cause hijack again...majority faculty working conditions.

[Wahoo Redux]

It is interesting to me that a professor currently employed by the university is/was a member of the Board of Trustees.  I don't see that often. It's pretty nice.

But then it is ironic that discharging the responsibilities of that position ultimately resulted in the professor being fired.

Kinda highlights the fact that having a faculty member on the board of trustees (who is the body that can fire them) doesn't exactly lead to honest feedback in that position.

Best of my understanding from the articles, Linfield has removed the faculty and student positions from the BoT following this, has disbanded the faculty senate, and disbanded the student government.

The one thing to keep in mind is that we have no proof of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner's claims, particularly regarding the comments Davis, the president, allegedly made.  Some of the harassment has evidence, but is contested.

[Golazo]

Sorry for the double thread. I agree that we can't be certain about some of the allegations, but the fact that a trustee has been indicted, and that the college settled a civil suit, and it is a tenured professor who is fired rather than change in action at the top, seems dubious. Particularly since the college seems to have decided that it doesn't need to follow any of the procedures outlined in its handbook. I don't think this is going to end well for the college. And why would students want to attend an expensive private college with these explosive allegations about its leadership when there are plenty of other good regional options?

Also, worth nothing that Linfield is about as Baptist as say William and Mary is Anglican.

[Ruralguy]

Students don't care at all about this sort of thing *unless* it somehow affects services to them. if it doesn't, and these just here professors whining about it, they will not care. That doesn't reflect my personal feeling about this. Personally I think they seem to deserve to fall apart. We'll see how this goes.

[Wahoo Redux]

I don't think this is going to end well for the college. And why would students want to attend an expensive private college with these explosive allegations about its leadership when there are plenty of other good regional options?

This has definitely had a Streisand effect.  When was the last time Linfield was in the NY Times?

[eigen]

Students don't care at all about this sort of thing *unless* it somehow affects services to them. if it doesn't, and these just here professors whining about it, they will not care. That doesn't reflect my personal feeling about this. Personally I think they seem to deserve to fall apart. We'll see how this goes.

The students are pretty upset since the core set of allegations is sexual harassment of students by board members. The fact that he college is censoring student communication or completely shutting it down on social media isn't doing them any favors with respect to the student position.

They're also under fire from parents and have seen alumni publicly changing wills to remove bequeathments to the school.

It's not being taken well locally, and they're a regional school- most of their student population is from the area where this is getting broadly reported on in the news.

[Ruralguy]

Well then, I stand clarified. I would then guess it probably will affect student enrollments at least a little, maybe a lot.

[mahagonny]

I don't know the students at this particular college, but after many long years of observing, I would say they basically follow a herd mentality. When they get it in their head that it cool to be outraged over something, look out. It snowballs. Of course, if you want the outrage, you're in luck.

[Golazo]

Obviously student unrest has a time limit--if the president is still at Linfield in a couple of years and nothing else happens, it will probably have burned out--but alumni disquiet is another issue. Frankly the board has nothing to gain by keeping the president, who has compounded the problem by saying ridiculous things in on the record interviews.

From a cynical view, it would be easier to hire another president (and ax the board chair), who could then justify a new round of retrenchment on the basis that the last group ran things so badly...