University administrators realized last week they aren’t Unstoppable, and they will always have to Fear the Student. Less than 72 hours after information on Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity Cordell Black’s dismissal leaked, student activists mobilized in a fashion usually unseen at this university. Thousands may have come to a rally with President Obama and more than a hundred may have voted in municipal elections, but until recently, issues dealing with the budget, tuition and university funding have been reserved for the few policy wonks who have shown interest. The student coalition that has materialized in the wake of severe budgetary pressures the university is facing will test every commonly held assumption about student activism and grassroots organization.
Their eventual effectiveness or ineffectiveness will make a dramatic statement about student influence on university decisions.
The critical test for any movement is sustainability.
The uproar and furor about Black may have been due less to his removal from the administration and more about the university’s missteps on a number of issues important to minorities, particularly the university’s diversity plan.
I am sympathetic to Provost Nariman Farvardin and understand why he would feel it unnecessary to include students when making personnel decisions. While I strongly support transparent decision-making and the concept of shared and inclusive governance, administrators cannot be handicapped in their ability to make managerial decisions. But university officials must also be accountable for those decisions. Ultimately, Farvardin, who has demonstrated during his tenure that he is a smart and capable administrator, failed to correctly time, prepare and execute his decision.
But the university and the state are facing the perfect storm of budget problems, with no end in sight. Frankly, the fight about Black does not even represent the tip of the iceberg. In the coming months, we will hear of even more personnel being fired or reassigned, which will undoubtedly be followed by drastic cuts and changes to a number of university departments and offices. When the General Assembly convenes in January, the university will be caught in the crosshairs as state leaders desperately search for hundreds of millions of dollars in an election year. Tuition will likely rise, and the Board of Regents may increase student fees considerably.
Students are facing an arduous and complicated battle ahead. There are no easy answers to the difficult problems the university faces. Students should organize now in preparation for the long haul. We cannot be a reactionary group that protests every decision that is made by the administration. Tough choices have to be made, and nothing we do can permanently delay the pain we must feel. Rather than be a hindrance, students must choose a more constructive plan of action. We cannot continually say “no” to every cut — we must look for efficiencies and make our own recommendations on possible service cuts or revenue enhancements. We must demand a seat at the table but also show that we are willing to share the burden. We must coordinate a strategy to convince state leaders that investments in higher education cannot be shelved.
Today is the time for real leadership.
Matt Verghese is a graduate student in public policy. He can be reached at verghese at umdbk dot com.
