By Professor Doom
In earlier essays
I mentioned how once a Social Justice Warrior gets control of hiring, it’s a
lockdown: all further hires are SJWs, or Progressives, or Leftists, or whatever
you want to call them.
Now, as evidence
for my claim I could simply point to the strong Leftist leanings of the
admin/faculty/staff on our campuses: seeing as about half the country (as per
the last election) doesn’t subscribe to this ideology, the best explanation for
90% or more of our campus professionals being adherents is a chokehold on
hiring.
But a specific
example is really worthwhile.
Rumors have been going around ever since her
appointment to the Provost office of her playing favorites when it came to
hiring or promotion of employees under her department. A complete investigation
needs to be done and she and her wife need to be placed on leave without pay
until such time as it is complete.
The article
I’m quoting from is a news article about a Provost caught in a
corruption scandal, and as per the reference to “she and her wife” above, we’re
talking about a married lesbian couple. The news piece does the best it can to
tiptoe what a mess she was caught in, and I assure the gentle reader what was
going on here was far more than what’s presented as news.
Texas
A&M’s outgoing Provost and Executive Vice President Karan Watson has been
removed from her position after an internal audit found significant conflict of
interest issues tied to business dealings her spouse had with the university,
Once again I see
we have a title well past twice as long as the holder’s name, and I remind the
gentle reader of my easy guideline for restoring sanity to our campuses: simply
eliminate all positions whose titles are more than twice as long as the holder’s
name.
Once you get high
up in the admin, you start to have control over the vast loot from the student
loan scam. Now, there are rules about spending this loot, and one of those
rules is “Thou Shalt Not Do Business With Family.” I’ve seen plenty of
institutions violate this rule, which naturally includes one’s spouse. Thing
is, as this was a lesbian marriage, the safeguards against violating the rules
in this manner weren’t really in place, which is why it took years before the
conflict of interest was unearthed.
Over
the last seven years since Karan Watson took over as provost, Nancy Watson —
owner of a conflict resolution company in Bryan-College Station — was paid
$438,733 by the university for training services….
At least, that’s
one explanation for why it took years, although it seems whenever I cover a
scandal, it’s something that had been going on for quite some time. That said,
7 years is a long time to get away with this, even as I acknowledge by the
standards of our Poo Bahs, looting not even half a million bucks is hardly
noticeable.
A “conflict
resolution company”? How is it that this was not obvious fraud on the face of
it. I’m sure this campus has many Psychology professionals in their Psychology
department, could they have not helped? This is a campus, not the Middle East,
how could you possibly justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on
conflict resolution training?
…a
whistleblower’s complaint made in May, marking the third grievance accusing the
Watsons of similar possible ethics violations connected to Nancy Watson’s
business…
Another thing
that’s striking about scandals, despite it seeming to occur every time, is how
everyone knew about it. This was the third complaint regarding an obvious
conflict of interest. When I was at a fake community college, we all knew of the frauds going on, though only a handful of us complained...not that anything was ever done, of course.
Much like the
horrific sex scandal at Penn State, the clear academic fraud at UNC, and, well,
every other time I examine a scandal, it’s very clear that people knew
something quite wrong was going on. It’s well documented that people made formal
complaints regarding the obviously foul activity…and nothing happens. Only
after repeated complaints about obvious issues does anything finally get done,
and it takes years.
I grant that our
higher education system is very slow to change, slow to respond, and to some
extent it’s designed to be that way and I’m fine with it. But far too often are
we finding frauds or “whatnot” going on for nearly a decade before something is
finally done about it.
For those who are wondering why
it took so long (after 2 other complaints and many years) to come to this
point, I can tell you that Watson was the consummate bully. You did not cross
her. There are bullies everywhere but what do you do when the #2 person at the
university is a bully. Just put up with it. Watson didn't have to ask folks to
use her spouse’s services - they were afraid not to.
I’m quoting from
the comments section here, because these people are often quite nasty. I
certainly have known fear when dealing with admin, as they wield too much
undeserved power, which they commonly use to pour money on themselves and their
cronies, leading to more power.
Not just a bully. A
bullet-proof bully. Nobody dared expose her for fear of being called an
intolerant homophobe or worse. She knew what she was doing and did not care if
it was a clear conflict. She dared anyone to stop her. Only when she had
decided to retire did anyone say something. Now, she feigns surprise and
concern for her reputation. Give us a break. This scandal must be fully aired
and exposed.
Another comment worth
consideration. Part of the SJW takeover of our campuses is that whenever anyone
complained about the actions of an SJW admin, that person was labeled RACIST
and ostracized. In this case, the label was doubtless more along the lines of
HOMOPHOBE…it’s a tough, tough, battle to fight, and one of many reasons why we
need to escort identity politics off campus (and over a cliff, truth be told).
Even in light of
this scandal, the provost is playing the gay card (how’d that work for Spacey?),
and perhaps she’s right. Bottom line though, every aspect of this story rings
true to me, from the repeated complaints, the clear conflicts of interest, the
bullying, and everything else. It’s all stuff along the lines of what I’ve seen
with my own eyes, elsewhere.
Would be worth looking at several departments
where faculty spouses report to department heads.
The provost maintains she and her
wife did nothing wrong, and I’m certain from her point of view, it’s true. It
might even be true, legally. And, absolutely, I’m sure there are husband/wife
conflicts of interest to be found in quantity on our campuses…but the point I
wanted to make here is that it’s not tough to find evidence of my claims
regarding how these people operate.
A word to the
wise, is all.
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