Scholarship table
So the SLU president was really faced with three choices. Call the police and get the protesters forcibly removed from campus. Continue ignoring them and having a group of people living in the heart of your campus. Or signing this document, which frankly doesn't include anything remarkable.I'm not saying he did the right thing, but it's not as though he committed a great deal of university resources to sign this. I bet half this stuff they already do. I can see why he made the choice he did.
I agree. Most action items probably align with current initiatives, and they all fit with SLU's mission. I think university administrations frequently make these kinds of concessions to protests around race issues. I'm out in California, and it seems like UC schools do this all the time. I think MU would behave similarly - offer to strengthen the school's connection and support of the surrounding community. Hauling protestors off campus in police vans would be a terrible PR image. Much more costly than a few constructive steps.Side note: I wonder why the protestors didn't hit up Wash U. Lots more money to be found on that campus if you're looking for some new outreach programs and a beefed up African Studies program.
I think Al Sharpton's beeper just went off.
I think it's extortion plain and simple, and to Topper's point earlier....what prevents a group from doing the same thing at MU? Granted you would have to have a larger controversy (ala Ferguson) to come in under to make it less arbitrary, but this could be a template.I don't have an issue with the social cause ultimately served here by the agreement, they are noble causes. However, I have multiple issues in the manner it which it was "forced" and the underhanded nature by which the university leadership went about it.What would the SLU president have done had a group of students started protesting in chemistry building because of student debt, and they dangled the hook of "well we'll stop protesting if our protest group gets better funding, or our grades are improved one letter grade"? I recognize it is an imperfect comparison, but I think it conveys the point.Additionally, while the funding is minimal, where is it going to come from? Is another program going to have funding reduced to support this agreement? If so, can anyone with enough media leverage come in and demand funding changes at the university?Lastly, was this whole episode conducted in an intellectually and academically honest way? Is this an example of leadership we would want to pass on to the next generation currently enrolled at the university?
What would you have done if you were the SLU president?
Wow, I'm very concerned for Benny. Being able to mimic Myron Medcalf's writing so closely implies an oncoming case of dementia.
I'll admit, I haven't been paying any attention to the situation. But is there no chance that there is any tampering or falsifying of the "forensics" or official statements, etc.? It wouldn't be the first attempt at a cover-up in a high profile situation
I would have disclosed what was going on and probably had an open dialogue with the protesters in front of the cameras. I also would have waited them out a little bit, make them protest for a while before engaging to see if they are committed.It's kind of like the filibuster thing in Congress. If you want to filibuster, fine do it, don't just talk about it and have everyone follow along simply because you said you would filibuster.
Sounds like the good basis for an episode of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge to me.
Man, I kinda miss that show. I remember reading a USA Today in an airport as they breathlessly described that as where television would go for the next 10 years. I think it was off the air a year later.
OK that's a fair answer. In other words you would have basically waited longer.