I read my Daily Targum articles yesterday and came upon an op-ed piece on Rutgers University President McCormick.
While I can understand the author’s complaint about the athletic department and the decision to cut six sports, he goes well beyond that in his vague remarks in the following sections:
Unfortunately, the letter missed the mark. They should have been directed, not to Mulcahy, but to the man responsible for the whole picture, University President Richard McCormick – someone who has severely disappointed many of us alumni who looked to his promises of making Rutgers an even better school.
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However, those on campus, faculty and students, alike, have an obligation and greater role to play by keeping his feet to the fire daily until he either accepts the leadership role which has been proffered to, and accepted by him, or he offers his resignation in disgrace and in recognition of his unwillingness or inability to demonstrate true academic leadership and to do what is right.
Given that the author is a member of the Class of 1955, he may be forgiven for being somehwat out of touch. It is true that within the athletic department an emphasis has been placed on the visible, “revenue” sports of basketball and football over the “Olympic” sports of swimming & diving, fencing, etc. And while I may or may not agree with that decision, I have an issue with an article that vaguely acuses McCormick of not accepting the leadership role that he owns.
The President has staked his entire reputation at Rutgers on reorganizing undergraduate education and University services in order to no longer discriminate against members of various “colleges”, which truly existed in name only after the creation of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in 1982. He has invested a significant amount of his time, of the resources of the University, and the dedication of the members of the administration on undertaking this task so that undergraduates on New Brunswick will finally have a more seamless experience at Rutgers.
This has resulted in a complete overhaul of the University, from housing policies to student government to counseling services to admission and graduation requirements. Essentially all services with the exception, perhaps, of the academic departments, which were already reorganized in 1982, are impacted by the change in New Brunswick. To argue that President McCormick should accept the leadership role or resign is ridiculous, as this man has already done more in his short time at Rutgers to improve the University than the previous president did in his 10 years.
You may not agree with all his decisions, but you can’t tell me he’s not leading. If you do, it’s clear you’re just out of touch.