I hope everyone got their invitations to the Glen Poshard's series of parties to be sworn in as President of SIU. You really aren't popular if you don't get one and most likely will never make the cheerleading squad next year. They sent me a $.80 postcard to hold the date and this is a $4 or so invite. Wonder how many were sent out? Every alumni in business I have asked (save 1) received both.Personally, I have no problem with SIU throwing a party for this "event". The thing I don't like is the lying about the cost ($40,000 is less than the costs of the invitations) and their consistent use of "not public money." Not public money tells the big donors that the administration is wasting their donations and to find a more responsible place to park the money.
I guess if there was one thing that really pissed me off about this whole deal is that the public lies about the money. When you mark one budget as $40,000 for an event and then spend way more than that (people's time, places, materials, etc) from different lines or budgets you are lying about the numbers. I know everyone involved with the SIUC administration expects this, it is still unethical.
3 comments:
Hmmm ...as an alumnus in the Liberal Arts Dept. at SIU, my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. That, or I'm not "moving or shaking" enough to be invited. As a tax-payer, it's a bummer either way.
I didn't get one, but I already knew I wasn't popular. That's okay. I really hate putting on grown-up clothes when I could be working or relaxing instead.
I'm glad that Dr. Poshard is getting the royal treatment. Now, how about giving our students and their parents the royal treatment by re-instituting the New Student Convocation that John Jackson temporarily revived?
When I donned my academic regalia and participated in the processional from Davies to Shryock, I was very moved by the looks on the faces in the audience - so much so, in fact, that I started to price caps and gowns so that I would be ready for future requests for formal academic ceremonies. I was never invited again - and I didn't even fart during Convocation.
If we're going to BE a real university, let's act like one, complete with all the appropriate symbolism that tells others that we're serious about what we're doing here. Not all symbolism is empty.
Peter, you are tilting at windmills on this one.
Several decades ago there was a President of SIU who inspired the entire region. Delyte Morris was a great leader in so many respects. As an true academic, his credibility about education, which was his motive,was unassailable. He was a brilliant manager, surrounding himself with so many capable people, getting the best from them, and being both unafraid and proud to let them share in the occasional glory. And perhaps most importantly for what he needed to do to transform the teacher's college he was picked to run, Morris made us dream of what could be. From river to river and Carmi to Cairo, Morris made us feel proud, and most of all, worthy, to have a major Illinois University. He convinced all of us. Read sometime the histories of SIU and note the substantial gifts from both labor and industry; the small local business, farmers, unions, clubs, and people from all over Southern Illinois - not being asked, but instead asking - what can we do.
Illinois legislators couldn't vote money fast enough, and citizens approved bond issues. There was a common goal, and almost everyone was for it, whether or not it would directly affect their own life. And there was a unifying pride and sense of accomplishment. The rise of SIU put the capital "S" in Southern Illinois.
Fifty some years later, it is as if we are the Tower of Babel. We are divided by our politics, our economics, our religion, and most unfortunately, our geography. SIU and its environment are very different, and I daresay community support is less than it was. We live in more difficult and complicated times. Universities are governed by and subject to, so many more constituencies. The pace of life, and of change, is quicker; and cable tv and the internet have, ironically, made us closer, or at least more aware. So we need SIU, not just to be a good school, but to once again be an inspiration.
The one person whose nearly universal appeal here almost made him governor of the entire state, is Glen Poshard. He is of us, about us, and most certainly for us. Now I don't know if Glen Poshard is a visionary, an academic, or even a good administrator. But he has come out of the crucible of politics with his integrity intact. He is intelligent, earnest, and sincere. And I trust him when he says he wants the University not just to succeed, but to triumph. The installation of Glen Poshard as President should be considered a moment of Southern Illinois self-esteem; a time when each of us, and all of us, can point to SIU and say, "This is who we are." Instead of harping on the relatively modest expense and calling it a coronation, think of it as "Fanfare for the Common Man"
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