There is a big difference between the public face of the university from Morty Schapiro to Michael Schill, and I’m sorry, but I don’t care for Schill’s at all.
Morty did not try to use us, meaning Northwestern University, to promote his personal agenda. I’m not sure if he even had a personal agenda. Morty was about the university, its students, its faculty, its academic achievements, and very much about its athletic programs.
But that’s entirely different with Schill. I believe that he sees us, again the university, as a tool that he can use to promote his personal agenda. In essence he uses the leverage and power of his position to do exactly that.
Sure there are faculty members who have agendas as well and that’s fine. However, the university itself did not. Those things were left to the individual faculty members. But that’s all changed now.
The university itself via the president is now in the business of dealing with a number of controversial issues. Some here might like that involvement, but others like me may feel it is well beyond what the university should be doing.
And in this new dimension, if I can call it that, there seems to me to be a pretty clear decrease in the position and importance of athletics. I’m beginning to believe that if Schill could simply eliminate major sports like football and basketball and turn us into something more like the University of Chicago he would do so.
Morty did not try to use us, meaning Northwestern University, to promote his personal agenda. I’m not sure if he even had a personal agenda. Morty was about the university, its students, its faculty, its academic achievements, and very much about its athletic programs.
But that’s entirely different with Schill. I believe that he sees us, again the university, as a tool that he can use to promote his personal agenda. In essence he uses the leverage and power of his position to do exactly that.
Sure there are faculty members who have agendas as well and that’s fine. However, the university itself did not. Those things were left to the individual faculty members. But that’s all changed now.
The university itself via the president is now in the business of dealing with a number of controversial issues. Some here might like that involvement, but others like me may feel it is well beyond what the university should be doing.
And in this new dimension, if I can call it that, there seems to me to be a pretty clear decrease in the position and importance of athletics. I’m beginning to believe that if Schill could simply eliminate major sports like football and basketball and turn us into something more like the University of Chicago he would do so.