OBAMA'S HISTORICALLY BLAND ADDRESS AT MOREHOUSE IGNORES EDUCATION

Ok, I admit to a bit of dead horse beating here, but what the hell?

How can this horse be dead? Where's the work ethic anymore?

President Obama had at least one good joke to begin his address at the Morehouse College commencement this morning: 

I know some of you had to wait in long lines to get into today’s ceremony. I would apologize, but it didn’t actually have anything to do with security. These graduates just wanted you to know what it’s like to register for classes.

Ha ha. Really. I like it.  

Didn't say anything about adjunct faculty, though, which, while it isn't funny, is important if you’re like me in thinking that the ongoing enfeebling of the nation's faculty is the real problem with higher education. 

Not funny at all.

President Obama did have a few words going on about responsibility, leaning on some remarks by Benjamin Mays, Morehouse president from 1940 to 1967, noting that the college should aim to produce graduates "who are sensitive to the wrongs, the sufferings, and the injustices of society and who are willing to accept responsibility for correcting [those] ills.”

"Live up to President Mays’ challenge," U.S. President Obama urged.  "Some of you may be headed to medical school to become doctors. But make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too."

That was a prelude to softsell marketing of Obamacare. Obamacare? I’m a fan, in principle, but did the President take what was a golden opportunity, at Morehouse this morning, to point out that some unscrupulous employees—that’s probably a zillion colleges and universities, unfortunately, have been using Obamacare as an excuse to further injure the livelihoods and lives of America’s majority faculty?

No. Why did I even ask?

And, by the way, President Obama didn't say anything at all to any of Morehouse men who might be thinking about a career in high ed.

There must have been some. I wonder if they were thinking about the majority higher education faculty in this country—the faculty that already, being the "super-majority" in the community colleges and "lesser tier" 4-year colleges, knows quite a lot about serving "folks in underserved communities." A shame the current President, of the United States, seems so unaware of that.

Now, also get you to the Hofstra AAUP adjunct site, which has a very good post. 

And go comment-here's mine:

Hi folks-thanks for posting this. It’s a shame isn’t it, that we weren’t able to mobilize even more noise around this classically hideous example of institutional inequity, but at least we got some of it going. I tried to find some sort of info on whether or not there would be higher ed union or other supremos at this event– some published itineraries perhaps, of leadership types who might have been in the good seats– with a view to doing a twitter thing and twitting them for their fecklessness in the face of an obvious pr opportunity…but ran out of gas, not least of all because I had to/still have to, write a new final exam for a new course… To give tomorrow. But, again, it’s great to see this post, thanks.

And, of course, also visit the New Faculty Majority Blog, which has all manner of current adcon news going on-Thank you, Vanessa!

And then get to the New Faculty Majority Facebook page as well.

I really think the White House should be all tied with adcon tweets and so-forth...don't you?


_________________________________________

May 16, 2013  Ok, I'm sorry. I was wrong. 

Look: MorehouseCollege Won’t Shut Adjuncts Out of Obama’s Speech After All

 

So this crow was just helping me out, ok? Nothing bad happened to this crow.

And here is a comment from Kathleen Rand Reed, in which she explains the whole misunderstanding:

I spoke with Karen Miller, Chief of Staff, for President John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., at Morehouse and several other knowledgeable persons.  No slight was intended toward the adjuncts.  Usually the "full-time" faculty sits on the stage during commencement. Normally, some members of the faculty are not present --whether away on a vacation, choice not to come, whatever the reason.  This time because of the historic significance of the President speaking at a commencement--in Georgia, at Morehouse an HBCU, etc, almost every faculty member this side of Alabama and any other state wants to be and plans to be on that stage in full regalia.  This situation left a full stage, issues  around fire codes, no room for everyone on stage, security and the like.  Morehouse goes out of its way as an institution to teach its students "compassion, civility, integrity and even listening".  They are not about to go back on that commitment to its students, its faculty (all of its faculty) and the public and especially POTUS. Please do not project onto a revered institution some malevolent intent when the full story has not been told.

Let's hear a loud round of applause for the Morehouse coup of having Obama as the commencement speaker.  Wow!

Kathleen Rand Reed

I know, right? Wow. Now I'll have to eat that crow, probably with egg on my face. Disgusting.

See, Dr. Reed seems to be a nice person, and an anthropologist too, so I’m sure she knows that the American Anthropological Association, through its association with Coalition for theAcademic Workforce, for instance, is VERY SERIOUS about raising the profile of adjunct and contingent faculty.

And, furthermore, she’s clearly someone who commands respect within the academic establishment, because I found a recent post of hers, for instance, on the  "BLOG OF ACADEMEMAGAZINE," where I also read that "OPINIONS PUBLISHED HERE DO NOT REPRESENT THE POLICIES OF THE AAUP."

What a minute! What’s wrong here! Yes, I knew it! I knew the AAUP wouldn't stick up for the excluded adjuncts down at Morehouse College! And where’s AFT, come to think of it! Or NEA!

Are you kidding me!  Shame! Shame!

So, glad I could clear that up. I have three grading deadlines on me. Gotta go.

 ****************

 
May 13, 2012 -- Hi there—you may not be able to read this very good article by Peter Schmidt in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education, because it’s behind a paywall, but you can read it below because, well, I’m not sure, but somehow it just appeared here.

BTW, Morehouse College doesn’t have THAT many adcon faculty-only 50 or so (half are part-timers), so you’d think that seats wouldn’t be THAT hard to come up with….

(That’s all for now: I am still grading 24 gazillion tests and papers—Alan Trevithick)

Adjuncts May Be Shut Out of Obama's Speech at Morehouse College

ByPeter Schmidt

[Update (5/15/2013, 11:15 a.m.): Morehouse College announced on Wednesday that adjunct faculty members would each receive one ticket to be in the audience at the commencement ceremony because additional tickets became available after students’ ticket needs were met. The adjuncts will not, however, be able to sit with full-time faculty members on the stage.]

The original CHE article did not feature this poignant illustration, by the way, and, also, not all adjunct/contingent faculty dress like this. I do, of course, but I'm hardly putting myself out there as representative. Many of us who routinely get kicked to the curb in this way manage to do so in a a stylish, indeed, elegant, manner.

Despite all the time they spend in its classrooms, part-time faculty members at Morehouse College are at risk of being kept away on Sunday when President Obama delivers this year's commencement address on the campus green.

Faced with overwhelming demand for seats at the event and the security concerns associated with a presidential visit, the historically black private college decided in February to deny tickets to its roughly 50 part-time faculty members. It has since reversed itself to the extent that it is at least trying to find a way to let adjuncts attend, but Elise Durham, a Morehouse spokeswoman, said on Tuesday that "we just don't know yet" if that will be possible. "We are making every effort to do what we can," she said.

The Atlanta institution clearly is dealing with exceptional circumstances surrounding the first appearance of a sitting U.S. president to deliver one of its commencement addresses. Nevertheless, its decision to deny tickets to its part-time faculty—while seating full-timers onstage—is being perceived by some national advocates for adjunct instructors as emblematic of how colleges often give that population second-class treatment when it comes to inclusion in campus events or access to campus facilities.

"It is so common for adjuncts to be excluded from things," Maria Maisto, president of New Faculty Majority, said on Tuesday. She said even those adjunct faculty members who hold full-time jobs outside academe, and therefore are not as unhappy with their pay and benefits as adjuncts who try to make a living by teaching, "will get very upset about these kinds of exclusions, because they are an insult and they are disrespectful."

"This is just more of the same," said Debra Leigh Scott, who teaches part time at Temple University and is co-producing the documentary Junct: The Trashing of Higher Ed. in America. Calling adjuncts "the invisible people" on college campuses, she said, "It is not at all surprising that the administration would make a decision to further erase the existence of adjuncts at this type of thing."

The Chronicle was unable to reach any Morehouse adjuncts on Tuesday afternoon who were willing to talk about their exclusion from the commencement ceremony, first reported last week in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But Keith Hollingsworth, a professor of business who is chairman of the college's Faculty Council, said, "They are not happy, of course. I don't think that is a big secret."

"Normally," Mr. Hollingsworth said, "we have a very open graduation ceremony," with seats in the front reserved for students and their families but others open to anyone who wanted to attend. "This is the first time we have had to restrict it," he said. "The whole emphasis is to try to have as many tickets for the students as possible."

Ms. Maisto said that at some colleges commencements pose a much different problem for adjuncts because they are required to attend the events without being reimbursed for their time.

At Morehouse, President Obama's scheduled appearance at the commencement has generated high demand for seats, security concerns limiting the number of seats available, and an exceptional level of scrutiny for the college. Morehouse's president, John S. Wilson Jr., already has come under criticism for reducing the role played in its graduation ceremonies by the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, a Morehouse alumnus who leads a Baptist church in Philadelphia and had recently criticized President Obama in an essay in The Philadelphia Tribune.

In past years, Morehouse had set out about 10,000 seats for its commencement, with no ticket requirements, and let about 3,000 additional people stand in the back. This year, for security reasons, it has had to remove a section of seats, reducing the number available to 9,500, and to require everyone in attendance to have a ticket. It has offered one ticket each to its 170 full-time faculty members, who will have to go through background checks before being seated onstage; one ticket each to members of its staff; and 12 tickets to each of its students.

Ms. Maisto of New Faculty Majority said the situation at Morehouse is an example of how adjuncts "are often reminded of our status" by being given inferior treatment, even when equal treatment would not cost the college any additional money. "It is as much about academic culture as it is about economics," she said, "maybe even more so."

Human Resources, Divine Imperatives?

The remarkable fact that some Catholic officials are criticizing attempts to unionize exploited adjunct/contingent higher education faculty, on “religious” grounds, invites ridicule, or worse. One recent Catholic poster even called it “sleazy.”

Why? Because the anti-unionization push is coming from a church that, in its own Catholic social teachings, has been on record for decades as being on the side of the worker and in favor of workers’ rights to organize.

And so, today, I want to look at some recent posts on Human Resources and Mission: Discussion Blog for Catholic Colleges and Universities, in order to see how the “Catholic Social Teaching” deck might get shuffled and dealt in the real world.

But please don’t miss my “heart”-felt gratitude to St. Anselm College, for their celebration of the importance of faculty—I’m not just looking to criticize religiously affiliated schools. I mean, credit where credit is due.

Now, I’ve chosen three posts, two obviously connected to adjunct/contingent faculty problems, and one not. I am thinking about “religious exemptions,” and when or whether or not they are claimed. And also about  church-approved-and-administered policies, and whether or not these seem to be in line with established teaching.

From a most interesting site, this picture. It'll tell you all about various "Doctors of the Church."

I’ll consider one post each day—today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Here’s the first. It’s from 2010, but it concerns both adcons and healthcare, and many of us have been thinking about the connection, so it seems pretty fresh baked.

I. Opportunities for Part-time Staff and Adjunct Faculty Created by Healthcare Reform

That’s the title of the post, authored by Gary L. Miller, of the Office of Human Resources at DePaul University, who is one of the two people who administer the hr-forum-ccu.blogspot site.

Mr. Miller begins with a quote from Sister Carol Keehan, President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, who wrote in Summer of 2009—wow, really thinking ahead!—that:

Catholic employers in particular should support a reformed [healthcare] system not only because of the economic consequences but because of the social justice implications.

And also:

[But, does the new act] fully resolve the health insurance access issues for part-time staff and adjunct faculty or must more be done? More must be done.

Time out for some history: Sister Carol is one powerful sister, and she’s not always just totally thinking like some of her brothers over at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. On health care specifically, there’s some good and fairly recent reporting in the National Catholic Register.

Back to Miller’s post—read it all for the details, but, essentially, one reads about several proposals to cover part-timers, and the burdens thereof, on employees and institutions, and one particular solution is found such that “the university would have a plan for those part-timers who need it.”

And why should the university do so? Again, have a look at the whole post to see the details, but basically the idea—Miller’s— is that the university has a moral obligation to do so:

…. the new healthcare law envisions the federal government, state governments, insurers and large employers (those with more than 50 employees) all working together to achieve the important goal of near-universal medical coverage, a goal that serves the common good of the entire country. Because we know the government isn’t going to be helping these part-timers who fall in this gap, their access to health insurance becomes the responsibility of employers.

So, there you have it: 1) no reference to a religious exemption, 2) a clear connection made to a moral imperative flowing from a specific body of religious teachings, and 3) a plan to achieve goals in line with #2.

There also seems to be an equivalence between a secular drive for “the common good” and a religious drive for the same thing, so that there is no secular/religious clash at all.

Wouldn’t this be a simpler world if we saw that sort of thing more often? But don’t get all excited. At least one of the commenters saw what I saw, and didn’t like it much:

Catholic Social Teaching would take a more nuanced view of the common good….The subsequent debate in Congress after the passage of the 2010 health care provisions would suggest that the goal of universal coverage does not comport with all parties understanding of the common good. How will Catholic institutions respond?

But that’s not really the question. The real question, in many of these areas, certainly including the current and apparently accelerating campaign by adjuncts to improve their working conditions at Catholic schools, is this;

How will the various factions of politically and socially active Catholics respond, and which bunch will prevail?

Tomorrow? “Organization Justice” in Catholic colleges and universities. How does that work, or does it?

Catholics Protest Sleazy Catholic Higher Education

Criticizing Catholic higher education leadership for an aggressive campaign against attempts by exploited faculty to unionize is like shooting fish in a barrel. 

Here, see what I mean:

Another scandalous event that occurred during this "Fortnight for Freedom" was Duquesne University joining the sleazy ranks of Catholic higher education institutions who have attempted to claim religious exemption from the National Labor Relations Board in order to avoid a union.

Easy, right? And if you’re not Catholic yourself, you don’t have to be the one who uses hurtful words like “sleazy,” because you can just quote from actual Catholic sources, like Iglesia Descalza, a Voice from the Margins of the Catholic Church. 

What, you’re going to object to voices from the “margins”? So how about this, from Father Geoff Farrow:

Apply Catholic social teaching to Diocesan employment (wage/benefit) practices AND then perhaps, they will have the moral authority to address general social issues. They would certainly look far less ridiculous to their clergy and the faithful.

Ok, I hear objections again. Father Geoff’s a priest, granted, and a suspended one, and he's one of those anti-war types, a progressive. Wants the Church to back off on some of the gay stuff, and the contraception stuff, and so-forth. So try this, from America Magazine—published by the Jesuits, no less!

Where the Catholic hospitals are seeking an exemption from the mandate so they can honor Catholic teaching on contraception, the universities seem to be seeking an exemption from the National Labor Relations Act so that they can violate Catholic teaching on labor.

What do you want? Beautiful, right? Case closed. 

It’s a little unfair, I realize, given that the Church is all centralized, and everything’s all written down, so the hypocrisy hunt is easy. 

And that’s not so, at least always, for secular colleges and universities. 

They're awful too, but not always so obvious: some of their mission statements, though, I tell you, are ripe for the picking. But they'll have to wait their turn. 

Right now, I am picking on the Catholic higher ed hierarchy, and I just hope they appreciate it. One way or another, they really are providing moral guidance.

And next time, I will have a look at some recent posts on Human Resources and Mission: Discussion Blog for Catholic Colleges and Universities. There seem to be a number of ways that the “Catholic Social Teaching” deck can be shuffled and dealt.