Lovell releases new statement re: McAdams

[keefe]

Right.  Lovell's was awesome.  McAdams' was foolish.

Maybe someday you will judge your Marquette diploma worthy of wiping your ass again.  Excuse me for not caring when that day occurs.

I saw that you suggested I was somehow behind the times for not embracing Twitter.

Let me put it this way: we are hosted by MSFT for driving innovative applications in alt fuel through Big Data. We are creating something through the merge of advances in high performance computing power, cutting edge controls systems, and state of the art innovation in thermodynamics.   

You issue press releases. 

I would submit that you are the one stuck in the last century and are rather well behind the power curve of tech innovation.

You see Twitter as an essential means of communication. I see it as a plaything for the self-absorbed.
 
Who is the real laggard, Sultan?

[GGGG]

You are.

Twitter these days is an means of communication to get the word out to your constituents quickly and efficiently.  Is it "essential?"  Well show me a college or university that doesn't have a twitter account.  And many college presidents do the for the same reason. 

Earlier this thread you seriously suggested using an employee only meeting for Lovell to express his views to that constituency.  That is laughable.

(And I love the fact that you went down the road that you usually do.  Throw in a bunch of sentences that sound impressive, but are ultimately irrelevant to the issue at hand.)

[keefe]

You are.

Twitter these days is an means of communication to get the word out to your constituents quickly and efficiently.  Is it "essential?"  Well show me a college or university that doesn't have a twitter account.  And many college presidents do the for the same reason. 

Earlier this thread you seriously suggested using an employee only meeting for Lovell to express his views to that constituency.  That is laughable.

(And I love the fact that you went down the road that you usually do.  Throw in a bunch of sentences that sound impressive, but are ultimately irrelevant to the issue at hand.)

There are two issues:

1. Lovell used Twitter to bring up McAdams after he had promulgated the official position of the University.

You think that was acceptable. I do not.  We disagree and neither of us is wrong.


2. You made a personal attack, suggesting I was a social or technological anachronism.

I submitted evidence that your assertion is false.

I love the fact that your patented 'go-to' tactic when confounded by logic is to attack the messenger. These statements are almost always punctuated by a claim that, in fact, you really don't care.

What I find telling is that you dismiss my suggestion that Lovell hold a Town Hall for the Marquette community in favor of the man sending out a Twitter.

You said I was a technological anachronism. In fact, we have offices at Microsoft and are involved in advanced research in alternative energy in which we employ the most powerful cloud computing solutions to derive sophisticated algorithms that drive state of art controls systems.

We use technology to drive innovation to bring real change to the way people generate electrical power and thermal energy. A quick survey of our team confirms that not only does no one have a Twitter account but that we all view it as an insipid and meaningless toy. None of us think that anything significant can be broadcast in 148 characters. But then we are scientists.

And my Marquette diploma? It is the most valuable and cherished document I have on a wall. None of the work I mentioned here would have been possible if not for the education I received at Marquette. My wife had a terminal degree from an ivy but she always valued the education she received at Marquette as her most formative.

Don't ever think I minimize Marquette. I disagree with Mike Lovell's recent actions. In fact, that means I am defending my Marquette University. In fact, I would submit that I am employing that education in a way that would make Fr Davitt proud.   


 

[keefe]

You are.

Twitter these days is an means of communication to get the word out to your constituents quickly and efficiently.  Is it "essential?"  Well show me a college or university that doesn't have a twitter account.  And many college presidents do the for the same reason. 

Earlier this thread you seriously suggested using an employee only meeting for Lovell to express his views to that constituency.  That is laughable.

(And I love the fact that you went down the road that you usually do.  Throw in a bunch of sentences that sound impressive, but are ultimately irrelevant to the issue at hand.)

I was asked to lead one of the break out groups today at iConic Seattle, the CNBC and inc. -sponsored seminar on entrepreneuership.

In two separate sessions both Robin Chase, CEO and founder of ZipCar, and Fred Kerrest, co-founder and COO of  Okta said they held weekly Q&A's with global staff either in person or via HiDef VTC.

I actually asked Robin if one should use Twitter for important communications and she laughed. As if the thought was absurd.

Now, I would say that three C-Level executives with impeccable MBAs, significant corporate leadership experience and who have started private enterprises know something about how to lead, motivate, inspire, and inform their employees.

What you consider "laughable" Robin Chase deems essential. And what you consider "essential, efficient, or quick" Robin Chase finds absurd.

I asked Fred Kerrest to elaborate on why he held a weekly town hall and he said they were able to maintain the energy and spirit of the 20 man shop of their beginning even though they now employed more than 500 people. He said the weekly Town Hall was his most effective way to stay in touch with everyone in his enterprise.

So, while you find my suggestion "laughable" seasoned successful business professionals offer evidence to the contrary. I think since you have little or no experience running a company you ought to confine your laughter to issuing college press releases.

[rocket surgeon]

  looks to me like twitter is the poor mans town hall meeting.  as much as some want to make twitter the "now" or "hip" mode of communication, i liken it to putting some maybelline on a pig.  it's the trailer park way or alternative to a video webcast of one's thoughts of the moment. 

 on another note-ya know what drives me nuts is seeing a group of people around a table all staring and pecking away at their iphones with nary a conversation being held.  hell, for all i know, they may be talking to each other.  or the incessant need to tell people what they are doing at every moment of the day...driving my electric car to work today, eating gluten free krispy kremes-yum, picking up my new dog from the animal shelter.....beneath it all is usually some miserable person crying out for help...yeah, like the duggers or the kardashians or something

[muwarrior69]

  looks to me like twitter is the poor mans town hall meeting.  as much as some want to make twitter the "now" or "hip" mode of communication, i liken it to putting some maybelline on a pig.  it's the trailer park way or alternative to a video webcast of one's thoughts of the moment. 

 on another note-ya know what drives me nuts is seeing a group of people around a table all staring and pecking away at their iphones with nary a conversation being held.  hell, for all i know, they may be talking to each other.  or the incessant need to tell people what they are doing at every moment of the day...driving my electric car to work today, eating gluten free krispy kremes-yum, picking up my new dog from the animal shelter.....beneath it all is usually some miserable person crying out for help...yeah, like the duggers or the kardashians or something

Those who use twitter probably are poor spellers too.

[GGGG]

I was asked to lead one of the break out groups today at iConic Seattle, the CNBC and inc. -sponsored seminar on entrepreneuership.

In two separate sessions both Robin Chase, CEO and founder of ZipCar, and Fred Kerrest, co-founder and COO of  Okta said they held weekly Q&A's with global staff either in person or via HiDef VTC.

I actually asked Robin if one should use Twitter for important communications and she laughed. As if the thought was absurd.

Now, I would say that three C-Level executives with impeccable MBAs, significant corporate leadership experience and who have started private enterprises know something about how to lead, motivate, inspire, and inform their employees.

What you consider "laughable" Robin Chase deems essential. And what you consider "essential, efficient, or quick" Robin Chase finds absurd.

I asked Fred Kerrest to elaborate on why he held a weekly town hall and he said they were able to maintain the energy and spirit of the 20 man shop of their beginning even though they now employed more than 500 people. He said the weekly Town Hall was his most effective way to stay in touch with everyone in his enterprise.

So, while you find my suggestion "laughable" seasoned successful business professionals offer evidence to the contrary. I think since you have little or no experience running a company you ought to confine your laughter to issuing college press releases.

Anyone who thinks you run a modern college university like you do Zipcar is wrong.  Much different places with much different constituencies.  That has been my point all along.  There is a need for openness at a place like Marquette that doesn't exist at places like Zipcar.

[warriorchick]

Anyone who thinks you run a modern college university like you do Zipcar is wrong.  Much different places with much different constituencies.  That has been my point all along.  There is a need for openness at a place like Marquette that doesn't exist at places like Zipcar.

+1

A university is not a business and shouldn't necessarily be run like one.

Anyone who has more than a passing interest in Marquette's affairs most likely follows the University using at least one of the outlets that posted Dr. Lovell's comments. It was a very efficient way to get his message out.

[GGGG]

BTW, it is not just me saying that.  I know people who have moved from corporate communications to university communications (and vice versa) and have found that transition to be difficult and challenging.

[Tugg Speedman]

The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page Weighs In On This Issue


Punished for Blogging at Marquette
A tenured professor faces dismissal after a blog went viral.
April 7, 2016 7:17 p.m. ET

http://www.wsj.com/articles/punished-for-blogging-at-marquette-1460071026

Blogging can be dangerous to your livelihood—or at least it can at Marquette University, where a professor may lose his job for expressing the wrong political views.

In November 2014 an undergraduate approached philosophy instructor and PhD candidate Cheryl Abbate, after a class on John Rawls’ theory of equal liberty. The student said he objected to her suggestions during the class that same-sex marriage isn’t open for debate and that “everyone agrees on this.”

Unknown to Ms. Abbate, the student recorded the exchange on his cell phone. During the conversation, she told him “there are some opinions that are not appropriate, that are harmful, such as racist opinions, sexist opinions” and if someone in the class was homosexual, “don’t you think that that would be offensive to them if you were to raise your hand and challenge this?”

When the student replied that he has a right to argue his opinion, Ms. Abbate responded that “you can have whatever opinions you want but I can tell you right now, in this class homophobic comments, racist comments and sexist comments will not be tolerated. If you don’t like that you are more than free to drop this class.” The student reported the exchange to Marquette professor John McAdams, who teaches political science. Mr. McAdams also writes a blog called the Marquette Warrior, which often criticizes the Milwaukee school for failing to act in accordance with its Catholic mission.

Mr. McAdams wrote on his blog that Ms. Abbate was “using a tactic typical among liberals now. Opinions with which they disagree are not merely wrong, and are not to be argued against on their merits, but are deemed ‘offensive’ and need to be shut up.” His blog went viral, and Ms. Abbate received vicious emails. She has since left Marquette.

But now Marquette is going after Mr. McAdams. In December 2014, the school sent him a letter suspending his teaching duties and banning him from campus while it reviewed his “conduct” related to the blog post. “You are to remain off campus during this time, and should you need to come to campus, you are to contact me in writing beforehand to explain the purpose of your visit, to obtain my consent and to make appropriate arrangements for that visit,” Dean Richard Holz wrote.

Marquette President Michael Lovell told the tenured professor that he would be suspended without pay and would not be reinstated unless he admitted his conduct was “reckless” and apologized for the unpleasant emails Ms. Abbate received.

All of this seems contrary to Marquette’s Faculty Handbook section 306.03, which says professors may be terminated by the university’s discretion only for “serious instances of illegal, immoral, dishonorable, irresponsible, or incompetent conduct.” The handbook says that “in no case” may just cause for dismissal be interpreted “to impair the full and free enjoyment of legitimate personal or academic freedoms of thought, doctrine, discourse, association, advocacy, or action.”

Mr. McAdams told Mr. Lovell this week that he won’t participate in the “compelled speech” demanded by the university by April 14 in exchange for reinstatement. This is more a test of Marquette and its ostensible free-speech principles than it is Mr. McAdams.

[warriorchick]

It is too bad the op-ed didn't also quote Marquette's code of conduct regarding behavior towards students that McAdams clearly violated.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

It is too bad the op-ed didn't also quote Marquette's code of conduct regarding that McAdams clearly violated.

Cause ya know, op-ed pieces. Seriously some of the worst written stuff out there.

[keefe]

It is too bad the op-ed didn't also quote Marquette's code of conduct regarding that McAdams clearly violated.

Thank God I worked for an enlightened enterprise such as GE which understands that I could not be subject to adverse action for something innocuous as writing a letter to the editor expressing a personal view.

Military members are subject to the UCMJ and certain personal liberties are circumscribed because the framers of the Constitution wished to prevent any possibility of military control of the government. I understand that completely. 

But working for a private employer? What one does and says on their own time, however distasteful or offensive, is their business and not the employers.

I don't agree with what McAdams said but I believe he had the right to do it.

The biggest disappointment is with Mike Lovell. Broadcasting comments on personnel matters on Twitter is stupid.

I would be shocked if Dr. Schlissel or Dr. Faust did such a bone headed thing. Lovell needs to comport himself with the dignity demanded of the leader of a prestigious 135 year old academic pillar. Engaging in a pissing contest with a disgruntled employee is beneath him. Or at least it should be.

[GGGG]

 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page Weighs In On This Issue


Punished for Blogging at Marquette
A tenured professor faces dismissal after a blog went viral.
April 7, 2016 7:17 p.m. ET

http://www.wsj.com/articles/punished-for-blogging-at-marquette-1460071026

Was this unsigned? 

[Coleman]

The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page Weighs In On This Issue


Punished for Blogging at Marquette
A tenured professor faces dismissal after a blog went viral.
April 7, 2016 7:17 p.m. ET

http://www.wsj.com/articles/punished-for-blogging-at-marquette-1460071026

Blogging can be dangerous to your livelihood—or at least it can at Marquette University, where a professor may lose his job for expressing the wrong political views.

In November 2014 an undergraduate approached philosophy instructor and PhD candidate Cheryl Abbate, after a class on John Rawls’ theory of equal liberty. The student said he objected to her suggestions during the class that same-sex marriage isn’t open for debate and that “everyone agrees on this.”

Unknown to Ms. Abbate, the student recorded the exchange on his cell phone. During the conversation, she told him “there are some opinions that are not appropriate, that are harmful, such as racist opinions, sexist opinions” and if someone in the class was homosexual, “don’t you think that that would be offensive to them if you were to raise your hand and challenge this?”

When the student replied that he has a right to argue his opinion, Ms. Abbate responded that “you can have whatever opinions you want but I can tell you right now, in this class homophobic comments, racist comments and sexist comments will not be tolerated. If you don’t like that you are more than free to drop this class.” The student reported the exchange to Marquette professor John McAdams, who teaches political science. Mr. McAdams also writes a blog called the Marquette Warrior, which often criticizes the Milwaukee school for failing to act in accordance with its Catholic mission.

Mr. McAdams wrote on his blog that Ms. Abbate was “using a tactic typical among liberals now. Opinions with which they disagree are not merely wrong, and are not to be argued against on their merits, but are deemed ‘offensive’ and need to be shut up.” His blog went viral, and Ms. Abbate received vicious emails. She has since left Marquette.

But now Marquette is going after Mr. McAdams. In December 2014, the school sent him a letter suspending his teaching duties and banning him from campus while it reviewed his “conduct” related to the blog post. “You are to remain off campus during this time, and should you need to come to campus, you are to contact me in writing beforehand to explain the purpose of your visit, to obtain my consent and to make appropriate arrangements for that visit,” Dean Richard Holz wrote.

Marquette President Michael Lovell told the tenured professor that he would be suspended without pay and would not be reinstated unless he admitted his conduct was “reckless” and apologized for the unpleasant emails Ms. Abbate received.

All of this seems contrary to Marquette’s Faculty Handbook section 306.03, which says professors may be terminated by the university’s discretion only for “serious instances of illegal, immoral, dishonorable, irresponsible, or incompetent conduct.” The handbook says that “in no case” may just cause for dismissal be interpreted “to impair the full and free enjoyment of legitimate personal or academic freedoms of thought, doctrine, discourse, association, advocacy, or action.”

Mr. McAdams told Mr. Lovell this week that he won’t participate in the “compelled speech” demanded by the university by April 14 in exchange for reinstatement. This is more a test of Marquette and its ostensible free-speech principles than it is Mr. McAdams.

This is so disingenuous as to the real reason McAdams got in trouble.

[Coleman]

Thank God I worked for an enlightened enterprise such as GE which understands that I could not be subject to adverse action for something innocuous as writing a letter to the editor expressing a personal view.

Again, maybe that's true at GE but it is not true at many other private sector companies, including where I work.

If I talked crap about a coworker or the company on a private blog you can bet your a$$ I'd be in some hot water. People get canned all the time for this type of stuff.

In the private sector, the company doesn't need a reason to get rid of you. As long as it is not because you are a member of a protected class (gender, age, disability, etc.) they can fire you for not liking the chip on your front tooth, even more so because they don't like your blog.

[GGGG]

This is so disingenuous as to the real reason McAdams got in trouble.

Yes. And so is keefe' assertion that it was roughly akin to writing a letter to the editor.

Very disingenuous.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Thank God I worked for an enlightened enterprise such as GE which understands that I could not be subject to adverse action for something innocuous as writing a letter to the editor expressing a personal view.

I am going to challenge this a little.  Do you really believe that GE would allow you to publicly blog about an intern in another organization and not be challenged?  Do you think you would keep your job if they told you not to do once before? 

If McAdams lamented the restriction of free dialog in the class on a no-names basis, my guess is he would be in a different position today.  Naming names at the top (those that set the policies) is a lot different from what occurred.

[GGGG]

Go one more step Frenns.

McAdams repeatedly called out Marquette in his blog and wasnt disciplined at all. Can keefe honestly say that if someone did the same at GE that they wouldn't be disciplined?

The only times he was disciplined is when he named students in the blog.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

McAdams repeatedly called out Marquette in his blog and wasnt disciplined at all. Can keefe honestly say that if someone did the same at GE that they wouldn't be disciplined?

The only times he was disciplined is when he named students in the blog.

I don't disagree but I think that part is irrelevant.  Some companies would likely take pride in allowing people to express this type of opinion.  I also though think this is where universities differ from corporations.  Corporations are in place for the customers and shareholders and can be more restrictive in their control of employees and public dialog (so their rights to shut this down are in my opinion greater) than a university with a public mission.  However, their rights to control how their employees are treated and apply discipline of said employees within a protocol are the same.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Go one more step Frenns.

McAdams repeatedly called out Marquette in his blog and wasnt disciplined at all. Can keefe honestly say that if someone did the same at GE that they wouldn't be disciplined?

The only times he was disciplined is when he named students in the blog.

Tenure, academic freedom.

That may be true it was the only time he was disciplined, but the university called him to the carpet on at least two other occasions for his writings in his blog.....terribly wrong on Marquette's part.  He was threatened with disciplinary action, McAdams pushed back and MU backed down.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm going to start a Go Fund me for McAdams, and based on the reactions to Lovell on MU's twitter from fellow MU alumni, there are going to be plenty of donations.   

I think the pitch will be....that money you were going to donate to MU this year, instead donate it to a MU professor's legal defense

[GGGG]

So someone who is a well known employee at GE could repeatedly criticize executive decisions in a blog without repercussions?  I would be surprised if that were the case.

[ChicosBailBonds]

This is so disingenuous as to the real reason McAdams got in trouble.

I'm sure MU's crack PR squad will get it squared away and not step in it, only to make it worse.  I have much confidence in this.....