What is a vote of no confidence about?
It’s not about whether Wagner is a bad guy, and it’s not about whether he has made mistakes. Nor is it about whether he has ever done a positive thing for Emory. It’s about whether one has confidence in his future leadership.
I urge both the faculty and the Laney Graduate Students to submit a vote of no confidence in Wagner, and I aim to demonstrate in this piece that any reasonable understanding of confidence rejects Wagner.
I believe Wagner’s recent article in Emory Magazine featuring the Three-Fifths Compromise is sufficient to justify not just the faculty censure, which I applaud, but also a vote of no confidence.
As a University President in the South, Wagner makes innumerable decisions that effect race. An enormous part of his ethical leadership is how he deals with questions of race.
Yet he has demonstrated that his understanding of what it means to take race into account lags behind that of a middle school history student.
An apology is welcome but does not change the extreme void of expertise required to make the statement in the first place.
A passenger jet pilot that forgets to refuel and must attempt an aquatic landing should not keep his job because he is good at apologizing.
Would you have the confidence to get in a plane with such a pilot? Even if he is great with maps, funny on the intercom and always on time?
Above-average competence elsewhere does not legitimize voids of expertise in crucial aspects of the job.
In addition, Wagner’s vision of University Governance is troublingly simplistic. In response to all process concerns, he has repeatedly claimed “Emory is a Republic, not a Democracy.” The fact that he thinks that this even responds to faculty and student concerns is problematic.
Democracy does not require everyone to vote on everything, and a Republic still must honor norms of process.
Wagner has claimed to desire to reform institutional process but, ironically enough, does not seem to understand that compromise is a two-way street.
In his last meeting with the Student Re-visioning Committee, he emphasized that there was “more of this coming,” referring to the department cuts. If he had decided his agenda in advance without deliberation with faculty and students, what possibility is there for either Republican or Democratic governance?
Wagner, based on his own statements, continues to position both faculty and students in a purely advisory capacity.
A leader that lacks both judgment and an understanding of just governance is not a leader at all.
Our University deserves better.
David Mullins is a College junior from Austin, Texas.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
It’s not about personality, or whether Wagner is a “nice guy”. It’s about whether he’s worth $1.2 million a year and deserves the power to steer a top 20 university. No Confidence!
The vote for Laney graduate students is Tuesday, April 16th from 8am to 8pm at Emory.edu/vote.
David Mullins…
As you already know, race is a myth. Not a reality. President Wagner already knows this as well and I hope you realize that the greater intellectual world outside of Emory has put this mythical idea of racism to bed.
Yes there are bigots and racists that exist in the USA and beyond. But If you believe that a leader who has already pushed minority representation is a racist, then I truly feel for you.
As for Emory being a Republic, he has a valid point. A leader of any large organization shouldn’t be tethered to any specific group, whether it be a majority or otherwise. Democracies and dictatorships have usually yielded weak and anti-intellectual results in academia, which is why no research competitive university in the United States has a leader that applies either one of those models.
This hurts my head for a whole bunch of reasons. Ow.
You’re totally right. Race is a myth! I think I learned about that in my classics class – it’s that thing where that guy has wings on his feet, right? And he’s really fast all the time, like always challenging people to races? And it turns out it was all Greek mythology – basically it was bullshit, and my air nikes will never make me sprout wings from my ankles? Yeah man, I felt like a chump when I realized that. Those nikes were expensive.
Sigh…
Well, it’s obvious that Emory still doesn’t require basic courses in biology and political science.
So wait, is it in your biology classes that you learned that race is a myth? I presume you learned that no American Universities are run as dictatorships in your political science class (I would love to see the citation on that one). But where did you pick up the gem that “leaders” shouldn’t listen to their constituency? Just curious.
By the way, in case there was any confusion – Wagner is tethered to one small, specific group, with its own unique set of special interests that differ from the rest of the University.
They’re called the Board of Trustees.
“As you already know, race is a myth. ”
I think the original comment is getting at the idea that race is a social construct. Here is an article that discusses that idea:
http://www.toqonline.com/blog/on-the-social-construction-of-race-2/
Go to http://www.keepwagner.com. All the cool kids are signing the petition.
By “cool kids” do you mean sellouts?
Oh yeah! Isn’t that the Pro-Wagner petition that has 400+ names that were put up without any email verification system, and that has multiple Civil War Generals (Confederates, natch) listed as supporting Wagner? And isn’t that the one being pushed by SGA representatives who earlier this month prevented the broader student body from voting on the subject?
Yeah, that sounds like a legitimate and noble and credible venture.
Go Wagner! Yay Status Quo!
“Democracies and dictatorships have usually yielded weak and anti-intellectual results in academia,” …
…
…
what?
Are you on bath salts?
Don’t worry he’s not gonna be leaving any time soon.
Smart money says he resigns over the summer.
Sorry, it’ll be “Moves forward to new ventures and spend time with his family.”
Oh! Hey! I remember you! How’re you doing, Lauren? Still going to bat for Emory’s hapless CEO? He’s toast, you realize.
I completely and wholeheartedly agree with Lauren. He deserves to stay.
Thank you! I have always thought you were a deeply intelligent and sensitive voice in these troubled times.
You realize that students’ tuition fund this guy right? So your future debt, to you, is worth it to make this questionably competent Board of Trustees puppet rich?
What a bunch of absolute baloney. Over one single mistake? Silly liberals…
Did you read this article? The stuff about Governance is dead on. Wagner’s crew pissed all over the Emory’s own governance protocols – and then he wrote a dinky little historical essay asking people to look the other way as a noble “compromise.” Read about it here: http://gonepublic.net/2013/01/19/reviewing-the-facts-on-emorys-cuts/
PS I don’t think you’re actually Crafty’s Brother! But then again, Crafty’s Brother wasn’t really Crafty’s brother to begin with, as best I could tell.
Omg I love baloney! It’s really good between two slices of whole wheat – or maybe rye – with some mayonnaise and lettuce and tomato. I like mine with sprouts too, but, it’s your call – everybody wins when you have baloney – conservatives, liberals, fascists – everybody! Especially when there are bunches of it!
Who is Crafty’s Brother?
Uh, son, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…
Don’t! Not now! Now is NOT the time!
… But… but… I thought I was the only one! How could you?!!!
How could you, Bessie? How could you?
This is weird… I am definitely calling off the wedding…
Nope. The wedding is still on.
It’s still on!
David Mullins is an anti-Israel bigot.
You’re totally right. I hear that all these campus protests are being secretly orchestrated by Hamas. Don’t believe them about reversing the cuts, or even pay attention to their detailed grievances RE faculty governance – They and Ayatollah Mullins only wish to bring Sharia Law to Emory.
JWAGS RESIGNS to rebuild a ’32 Ford
I see him behind the wheel of a bright orange ’69 Dodge Charger. Call it The Eminent General Lee.
“Zionist” wins best comment on any article I’ve written ever
So you’re admitting to being an anti-semite. Nice!
Yes. That’s exactly what’s happening here. By saying your comment was over-the-top and ridiculous, David is admitting to Anti-Semitism.
I hear David cashes checks from the Iranian government. They paid him to write this article in the Wheel. Because, clearly, if Jim Wagner gets hit with a No Confidence for violating Emory’s governance norms, anti-Semites everywhere will be one step closer to destroying Israel.
Only your brave advocacy stands in his way, “Zionist.” You are a 21st Century Maccabee.
Did you really just compare a pilot putting passengers’ lives in danger to a misguided foot-in-mouth gaffe? He’s gone through all the steps to rectify his very human error: education, more conversation, admittance, apologies. Get off your high horse and forgive the man, you perfect little specimen, you. Way to keep the melodrama alive.
Jillian, it’s not some “misguided foot-in-mouth” faux pas. Never mind that Wagner’s letter wasn’t some one-time verbal gaffe, but instead a 750 word essay he spent weeks writing, that was reviewed by staff, and that went out 115K people and to the world. That letter was about Wagner’s governance of this university – and that governance has, as David’s article lays out and the link above will show you, systematically and repeatedly violated university bylaws.
It’s not about the melodrama, or about calling people names. It’s about governance decisions, Wagner’s track record, and how he understands and talks about those governance decisions to the community and the word. I know this can be hard to follow, because the issues are complicated and large-scale, but you’re doing yourself a disservice by minimizing the whole issue to “human errors” and melodrama and people forgiving people and moving on. The fate of this institution is at stake.
What a load of liberal tripe. Pathetic!
Tripe? I love tripe! Sometimes I saute it with olive oil and garlic, other times I wrap it around a mixture of oatmeal and other organ meats for the annual Burns dinner! It’s chock full of bioavailable vitamins and minerals, and let’s not forget – it’s affordable too! Liberals, conservatives, anarcho-syndicalists – everybody wins when you serve tripe for dinner. Especially when there’s loads of it!
Shut up dude.
Yea honestly just don’t even waste your time here. I think we’d all appreciate it!
You’re right, that comment about “liberal tripe” was a really valuable point just on the verge of contributing meaningfully to the discussion until I made fun of it. I should stay away from these comment boards and catch more Fox news!
What in particular strikes you as particularly tripey? Also, is “liberal” an insult for you?
phew glad nobody saw the effect/affect mistake