CSU Faculty Voice: You should have been there. Really, you should have.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

You should have been there. Really, you should have.

We should all be proud of the CSU students who made the trip down to Springfield to protest at Governor Rauner’s Budget Address. It was their moment and it was gratifying to see them join with students from many of the other state institutions—Northern, Northeastern, Eastern (“EI-EI-EI-U”—what a cute little cheer). They made the effort, they filled two floors of the State Capital Building, they booed Rauner as he came out of the assembly rooms after his address. They tried to impress the pols with a simple message that for all its troubles, CSU means something and has made a difference in many lives.

You would have been proud of them. Prez Calhoun was there and he seemed pretty pleased with the effort.

Thirty or forty faculty and other CSU supporters joined the protest in Springfield, but one of the Republican legislators who stopped by to talk to the students on the way out told all of us that while this gathering was ok, it would have been far more impressive if we filled the floors of the capital building, if there were many many more people there. So, next time let's bring out the bodies. For whatever it is worth, whether the die is already cast for the future of CSU, we still need to show up. Next time and there will be a next time, we can’t let them say that there weren’t enough of us.

Well done students. Impressive leadership, great spirit.

4 comments:

UnknownFeb 19, 2016, 2:01:00 AM
(applause!)
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UnknownFeb 20, 2016, 4:57:00 AM
Was alot of miss communication and was not organized correctly
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UnknownFeb 20, 2016, 5:17:00 AM
I was told that the bus was leaving at 7 in front of the business building and it was not there. I was totally disappointed.
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Thanks to Haki Madhabuti

"1. He/she must be a scholar of national note, with significant peer review publications and books in his or her field. There must be no doubt as to his/her standing in the community of scholars. This would also include a history of the candidate’s participation in the appropriate professional organizations.

2. He/she must have served with distinction as the administrative head of a major unit within an institution of higher learning or at the important position of Provost and/or Dean. Of course, prior service at the presidential level is preferred.

3. He/she must have a documented history of raising significant monies from the private and public sectors. At most major and research one universities it is not unusual to expect the president to come with a plan to raise in excess of half a billion dollars or more in the first few years.

4. The prospective president must have a consensus buy-in from the faculty, students, administration and staff, therefore, arriving with a unity mandate to lead by joining a University community that has bought into his or her vision for the future."

From an open letter to the CSU Community, 2009.