By JONAS MILLER
Features Editor
On Wednesday, the faculty at The College of Saint Rose voted. Not on Bernie, or Donald, but on whether or not they had confidence in President Carolyn Stefanco and her administration.
The result: an overwhelming no.
Out of the 200 faculty that were eligible to vote, the numbers ran 120-35 with three abstentions.
What does this mean? If you don’t attend school or work at Saint Rose: nothing. No action can be taken because of the vote, as it was simply a statement being made by the faculty.
Well let me tell you, I hear you loud and clear.
As a student, I have been forced to stand by and watch as decision after decision was made, whether financial or structural, each one cutting deeper and deeper into the morale of this school. I have had no say, and I think I speak for a lot of my peers when I say that for the past 6 months, my opinion has been beyond irrelevant, almost non-existent.
It is unfair that 23 good people had to lose their jobs, but that happens. It is unfair that almost 30 programs had to be cut, but that happens too. No matter how much you value education and the process of learning, no matter how much you love your job, or your teachers, or your school, money doesn’t grow on trees.
When there isn’t enough money for something, there simply just isn’t enough money. You cannot idly sit back and wait for more to appear. More students will not magically decide to attend this school; more donors will not arrive at our doorstep demanding we accept their contributions. Action must be taken, sacrifices must be made, and we must come together, because a group that divides itself cannot endure.
So when I say that I am embarrassed and ashamed in the 120 faculty members who publicly voiced that they don’t believe in the President of our school, that’s an understatement.
Did you consider how it makes the rest of us look? You don’t speak for the students of this college, or the community that surrounds us and has supported us through this whole mess.
I cannot help but compare this situation to “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
“’Forward the Light Brigade!’ Was there a man dismay’d? Not tho’ the soldier knew – Someone had blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.”
The soldiers knew that their leader had made a mistake, they were going to lose the battle, but it is not their job to point it out, or to question the decision. It is their job to follow their leader, even if that means their own demise.
I have confidence in President Stefanco. I have confidence in our faculty. I have confidence in our institution. This year has been rough, and it may get worse before it gets better, but we must stand together; we must endure.
Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.
Jonas,
This article is EXCELLENT. It clearly explains everything in one nice summary. I fully stand by and support this article 100%. Thank-you for publishing this.
Thank you for writing this! You have been able to summarize everything that has gone through my head the past few months to the t.
So, a president who has been ‘leading’ Saint Rose for all of a year and a half knows better than the vast majority of the faculty, some who have been here for, what, 30+ years? I graduated from Saint Rose a loooong time ago. I work there now (although it does cross my mind that I may not have a job much longer if I keep speaking my mind…) My point is, I’ve seen the changes, for better and for worse, up close and personal. And it’s not good. In my 30-year association with my alma mater, I have seen much more history than certainly any of the students, more than Ms Stefanco and much of the Board, et al. And it’s not pretty, what Saint Rose is becoming. As matter of fact, it’s down-right ugly. Slash and burn? Why not start with her (Stefanco’s) own salary and perks. Or blaming real causes of the financial difficulty, such as over-building with new shiny toys, lining (especially) Madison Ave? And showing us REAL data about the debt, that if she has eliminated half of it already, then let’s slow down. No need to wipe out a large percentage of faculty and programs.
If I wanted a cookie-cutter education I could have attended any number of colleges. But I wanted a Saint Rose education. When I was a student I appreciated all the things that made Saint Rose DIFFERENT. I GREATLY valued my liberal arts-based education. And if ya’ll don’t like what the college and its faculty are all about - go somewhere else. You’re young. You’ll find something more suitable. Go where you get what you want. And take Ms. Stefanco with you. Just leave MY Saint Rose alone.
PS I don’t want to be one of the 600…just sayin.’ Life is too short for that, and my liberal arts education tells me that there’s a better way out of this mess, that doesn’t include decimating the Saint Rose I know and love.
People are just wired differently, and opinions vary. Here’s to the range of views, and people willing to express them!
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The author quotes a passage from Tennyson about people blindly following their leader into death. While this is seen as honorable by some, others see an unquestioning loyalty as unwise, even dangerous. There is no shame in challenging leaders; our country was built on it. As someone who is wired differently than the author, I see the shame in remaining silent.
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Regarding the financial situation, a sudden leap in expenses in 2013 (while revenue was steady) produced a deficit. This surge in expenses has not been explained. The college didn’t suddenly hire more faculty or add more programs, causing a shortfall. Yet faculty are taking the hit, and students and the liberal arts are paying the price.
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There is more than one way to resolve financial difficulties. The President and board are using the simplistic “nuclear option” and firing faculty. They count on a community that does not question, but that obediently goes along.
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As an alum, I am alarmed by the disturbing conduct of a President on the job for 19 months. Expect more programs to be demolished while students’ tuition money is spent elsewhere, including new hires with expensive salaries.
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I proudly stand with fellow alumni, students, families, and friends who support the 120 professors. Faculty seek to protect the integrity of St. Rose AND address financial problems with a range of solutions. Yes, it can be done.
The tragedy of this statement is that this student represents what passes for thinking these days. There is blind acceptance that “bad stuff happens.” There are no questions of the administration’s use of the college’s money. There are no questions why such a majority of the faculty at this college are willing to follow a route that will probably lead to their own loss of their positions.
The tragedy for the USA is that these words represent too many of the voters for the next 50 years. If they do not question those who lead, or want to lead … the chasm will widen between an informed electorate and blindly following whoever is loudest or richest or promises the most unrealistic future.
Either you’re misunderstanding the poem or don’t understand what actually happened to the real Light Brigade. The Charge of the Light Brigade was one of the worst military blunders in history. Men died because of a leader unwilling to reassess a situation. The imagery is fitting, albeit for the wrong reason. I’m not sure why that’s the analogy.
The use of Tennyson and Lincoln to advocate for following blindly is astonishing. The reasoning here is lazy at best, and pretty terrifying at worse. “It happens” isn’t good enough, especially without a detailed list of where the debt came from. “It happens” certainly isn’t good enough when we’re talking about people who were forced to clean out their desks under the supervision of security. “It happens” isn’t good enough when the liberal arts continue to be decimated and students simply become customers in a business transaction. Questioning leadership is healthy, in fact, its encouraged. This administration certainly hasn’t earned the right to make unilateral decisions without question from others.
I can support the College, without supporting the people leading the school into the proverbial Valley of Death. You’re ashamed of the faculty who voted to show their disdain for the direction of the school? I’m embarrassed and ashamed that this poorly written article advocates for unity through closing our eyes, covering our ears and hoping it’ll all be better soon. At the end of the day, we can sit idly, follow the administration’s orders to “do and die,” or we can fulfill our duty to the mission of the College and uphold an environment of open, honest discourse among people with a diversity of opinions.
The core idea in this article that it is honorable to follow orders literally to the death without questioning them is a sad commentary on the beliefs of the author.
Furthermore, this analogy is a terrible one. We are not at war and faculty are not soldiers in a top down chain of command. We operate in a very different environment. Faculty at this school by contract are part of a “shared governance” model. Faculty under such a system have primary responsibility to make decisions about our curriculum and what programs are offered. The Board and executive administration have violated that contract by unilaterally usurping the faculty’s powers in these matters. Plain and simple. This is because the faculty are the EXPERTS on curriculum, not a board with no backgrounds in higher education and not an inexperienced president they hired expressly to usurp faculty powers in these matters for their own ends. There is NO provision under which the faculty is expected to simply allow board mandates to override their fundamental contractual powers.
A trumped up financial crisis, yes I said trumped up, does not change those roles. Dumping years of irresponsibly and inappropriately unreported building depreciation on the books in one lump sum and calling it an expense does not a real deficit make. These moves are NOT about rectifying a real world deficit. They are nothing more than a planned reorganization of our school’s fundamental curriculum to make us more business friendly at the expense of liberal arts and education using a fake financial crisis as an excuse. These changes abandon our fundamental mission.
The faculty will continue to fight for the programs that were cut because they are essential to our school’s stated mission of delivering a well rounded liberal arts education to our students.
Perhaps the author is ignorant of how shared governance works. Perhaps he has uncritically accepted the false claim that there is a financial crisis. Perhaps he is such an authoritarian that he really believes it is better to die following bad order than question them. I only hope that at some point he comes to realize that when 120 faculty with hundreds and hundreds of combined experience at this institution stand united to say that one novice president is badly damaging our school, they are doing so for well understood, well thought out and well intentioned reasons.
We will not march this school into the valley of death. We are committed to saving it.
Jonas, you’re so right. Thank you for posting this. I love the comparison to “Charge of the Light Brigade.” We should all follow our leaders blindly, without ever asking questions, even if it leads to our doom. You’re totally right to compare President Stefanco to misguided leaders who demand obedience. Perfect comparison!!
We could question whether there’s actually a budget crisis, or where the crisis came from, or whether college ethics have been violated, or whether the President’s motives are actually what she says they are.
But you’re absolutely right. We have no right to ask those questions. Ours is but to do and die. I love being a brainless automaton in the service of a deliberate attack on higher education, and I especially love believing it’s being done for my own good. It feels so good!