It is unmooring to read critiques regarding the system’s hostility to freedom of speech and intellectual diversity while teaching a class specifically on freedom of speech and intellectual diversity. Earlier this semester I moderated a panel on freedom of speech and expression on campus with UWO professors, President Rothman, and a representative from FIRE. It was an awesome example of what is possible when we embrace intellectual diversity and questions of free speech on campus. Making this issue, which is core to a functioning university, a political wedge issue is a choice. This semester at UWO we made a different choice, to take the topic on honestly and enthusiastically as a learning opportunity. And it is working. I don’t want to be a pawn in a culture war, I want students to know their constitutional rights, to experience true intellectual diversity, and to be comfortable discussing uncomfortable topics.
I was also struck by the some of the comments around shared governance being supportive of the rejected deal. My least popular opinion on campus is probably my belief that shared governance needs some serious reimagining. This may be more specific to UWO, but when I see the inequities in program staffing and support across campus, I cannot help but ask whether our governance processes enable such inequities. Do our longstanding processes contribute to a culture where the administrative and academic sides of our institution are adversarial? A bigger question is whether faculty and staff have confidence in the shared governance process. In my observations over the past ten years I see plenty of red flags, i.e., something being supported by shared governance processes does not equate to something being supported by those the shared governance process is intended to represent. That creates an impossible situation that is not fair or constructive for those participating in the process, or those impacted by the process. Worse, the disconnect breeds mistrust at all levels of the institution.
To my original question, where do we go from here? I favor embracing reform. At UWO, this would mean our layoffs and academic reform processes include budgeting reform, shared governance reforms including a new faculty constitution, and the taking of deliberate steps to unify the administrative and academic sides of the university. In other words, we need to rebuild our culture at all levels of the institution. That work is harder than restructuring or cutting costs, but it is also the work that will make all the other reforms successful. Without budgetary and cultural reform, we are at risk of repeating the mistakes that got us to this untenable point.