Letters
3/14/05
Ms. Rebecca S. Chopp and Mr. John Golden:
I read with interest Ms. Chopp's message in a recent Colgate Scene entitled "Real Measures of Quality". I am not sure if Ms. Chopp's comments about linkage of quality at Colgate to the decision to require the Fraternities to sell their respective houses to Colgate came in response to a letter I had written, or to a letter from another alumnus. I can't speak for anyone other than myself, so here goes:
Regardless of the quality of instruction given at Colgate and despite the many excellent memories I have of outstanding professors who two of whom are still at Colgate (Messrs. Aveni and Balmuth), neither the Administration of Colgate nor the Board of Trustees can speak of either quality or morality when they choose to take the moral low road.
We read of the malfeasance of our elected officials every day in this country, we also read of the malfeasance of the leaders of major corporations across America. I happen to work as a sub-contract employee for a major corporation that is going to extraordinary lengths to overcome obstacles presented by ethical shortfalls. Colgate is supposed to be an institution of higher learning. I fail to understand where this higher learning occurs when the Administration and the Board of Trustees feel that it is necessary to bargain in poor faith and to extort from the Alumni property that the University does not own and wishes to acquire at bargain basement prices. If the University (The Administration and the Board of Trustees) were sincere, well intentioned individuals they would have accepted the reasonable responsibility for their actions and offered to purchase the properties at replacement value. Instead, the University had used the threat of extinction to wrest from the Alumni something of value.
Whether or not this is a prosecutable criminal offence, is not for me to decide, however, it certainly is the moral equivalent of felonious extortion. I believe it would have been more honest of the University to pull out a firearm and say: "Stick 'em up".
Recently I had the good fortune to attend a conference at Oxford University. I have to confess that the occasion was sponsored by my most excellent wife who is one of the leading persons in her profession in the State of New York. She is an Assistant Superintendant for Business of a local school district on Long Island. The reason for the conference was that the schools in England and even the secondary education at Oxford were becoming irrelevant to England's ability to compete in the marketplace in that they gave their students a classical education, but failed to train them in a relevant way for the opportunities available in modern UK. Unless something changes in the near future, she might be invited to attend a similar conference in New York State. Certainly teaching students that the end always justifies the means, and that the morality of a course of action is dependant upon it's political correctness is not preparing them for modern challenges. I would be very interested to hear Professor Balmuth's comments on this subject.
John W. Stewart
610-591-4687