Fighting Back Against the Powerful in Society
I have always made it an unwavering point to oppose those people who are in positions of authority or power whom I find to exhibit hypocrisy and ethical depravity. Often, I have done such vocal protests at my own expense, suffering – on one occasion – an employment loss; however, I remain resolute in my conviction that the powerful who are ethically impoverished; who are more interested in advancing their own personal or professional interests than in making the necessary institutional reforms needed to create a fair environment for all employees; no matter how meager they might be, and despite the scarcity of respect they command from others in the institution who assume elevated statuses - must be confronted and called out on their lack of ethical fortitude, and their failure to do what qualifies as decent.
When working at Saint Xavier University, last year, I found myself excluded from any interactions with other faculty members. In fact, my only source of information about my duties whom I could personally interact with was the Department secretary. On my first day, I was given no greeting, no introduction to the institution, and certainly no extension of any indication that I would be a member of a community of scholars. I was clearly ostracized from any of the sanctums in which the tenor faculty had access; where they interacted; and where they engaged in activities designed to improve their teaching skills.
Indeed, on an occasion, I requested consultation on my instruction skills and was informed that such resources were not extended to adjunct faculty, who, I should report, constituted a substantial percentage of the instructors teaching the classes. What is the point of even having such resources intended to provide faculty with the ability to foster their teaching skills if they are not even provided to a proportion of the faculty that is substantial; beyond the boundaries of any respectable private university?
I had accepted my circumstances for a time, until an event incited me to such indignity that I could no longer contain my outrage for such an ostensibly disgusting institution, charging students the tuition of a private school for an education that amounted, in my opinion, to a four year community college. At the single – ground breaking meeting – after hours, of course – where adjuncts were actually invited – and, of course, virtually none of the tenor faculty made a point of attending – the Chair of the Department made a statement where she introduced an adjunct who had held such a position for approximately 15 years, and she went on to say something to the effect, “See, sometimes they keep you as adjunct for that period of time.”
To explain to those unfamiliar with academics, she was the Chair of the Department, and this aging adjunct’s continuation in his inferior position, despite his longer term service to the institution, was a condition that she had control over. She was, of course, the Chair of the Department, and his protracted exploitation as an adjunct was largely due to her refusal to do what was decent.
Further, to obfuscate her responsibility for such a callous treatment of a fellow, who essentially did the same work as she: it is not as though anyone at this clubby haven of cronyism publishes anything – she attributed the responsibility to other, undefined, institutional agents, excluding herself from the appropriate responsibility for such an injustice; what – in my assessment- counts on the part of those responsible for this mistreatment of a mild mannered aging man, as a demonstrable deficit in decency. Remember, Eichman did not actually kill anybody himself, but he certainly complied with what was expected of him from the institutional arrangements devised by the Nazis, and did his best to improve their efficiencies, as any loyal employee might act in such circumstances – the banality of evil.
Well, what I have done is not much, but it is worthy of mention to others who want to activity oppose the stratifications in American society where those with privilege use their authority to propagate their own interests, not taking into account any utilitarian calculus: the greatest good for the greatest number.
I stumbled upon a wonderful site called corporate snitch that is tailored just for the purpose of publicizing the unsavory activities of those of power in society who assume positions of institutional authority and misuse their decision making prerogatives. It is called Corporate Snitch, and can be found at the following URI:
Publicize/Research/Utilize Company Information, Consumer Complaints, and Employee Complaints
Employee Complaint Against Saint Xavier University
Please note that the employee complaint may describe the company or one of its subsidiaries.
Title: Chicago’s Saint Xavier University’s Treatment of Adjunct Faculty
Company Name: Saint Xavier University
Submit Date: 2007.04.10 11:15PM
Employee Complaint:
Hi,
I would like to complain about the treatment of adjunct faculty by the [a] minor and third tier Catholic University in the South Chicago area, Saint Xavier University. In the case of Saint Xavier University they made a policy not to reveal the identities of adjunct faculty members to other adjunct faculty members in order to prevent unionization. Considering that this is a Catholic University with a pretentious and hyperbolic mission statement, declaring its commitment to charity and other good works, I find this policy of intentionally impeding the improvement of adjunct working conditions – which are absolutely deplorable to begin with – at odds with the values that the University claims to embody. This profound hypocrisy is exacerbated by the exclusion of adjuncts from all meetings and functions where they might meet and interact with one another; obviously another tactic to prevent adjunct unionization. Saint Xavier University deserves to be identified as the bastion of hollow intentions that it [self] righteously lays claims to. Furthermore, while the tenor faculty is very well compensated, considering they produce virtually no publications and would not be considered by most to even be mainstream members of their respective disciplines – the adjuncts are paid little over $2,000 per course, and procure classes on a contingent basis. As if it could be even worse, Saint Xavier University hirers adjuncts in large percentages, which quite evidently facilitates the overcompensation that the tenor faculty, who benefit from their monopolization of resources, [enjoy]. For those students who truly possess the virtuous values of Catholicism, which extends consideration and charity to the meager in society, Saint Xavier University is an institution that does not reflect your values, and quite explicitly demands to be identified as [a] coven of cronies involved in propagating their own profit while excluding – intentionally and systematically – the elements of the University – without which it could even barely manage to function – to a status of poverty and employment insecurity that should be condemned by any legitimate Catholic Body or Diocese.
One Response to “Fighting Back Against the Powerful in Society”
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Ah yes the haves and the havenots, welcome to the realization that you too are a well read havenot such as I and the other 99% of us without money.