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Christine Johnson
@christinkallama@hcommons.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Indiana University's flagship campus in Bloomington was a center for expertise in global cultures and languages, among many other strengths. Now, its President and the state legislature are destroying it. And the Board of Trustees is cheering them on. A story being repeated, with variations, at campuses across the country.

Johannes Tuerk, chair of Germanic Studies, explains why the faculty voted overwhelmingly no-confidence in the President:

"During the faculty deliberation, a large variety of concrete grievances were discussed, ranging from the lack of advocacy for the university, a failure to engage graduate students and their unionization effort, the suspension of a professor without due process, the cancelation of an art exhibit years in the making, the potential severing of the renowned Kinsey Institute from the university, and the impression that the Whitten administration was encroaching on shared governance and academic freedom." 1/2

https://utotherescue.blogspot.com/2025/11/anatomy-of-fall-case-of-indiana.html
#HigherEd

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Christine Johnson
@christinkallama@hcommons.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

IU's Professor Tuerk continues:

The most weight, however, [in the faculty's no-confidence vote] was carried by the pervasive impression that the university leadership was incompetent and either not informed about the institution or willfully ignoring its needs, introducing random or inappropriate and at times unprofessionally conducted initiatives while not addressing important problems."

In other words, instead of working on actual problems (which do exist) in higher ed, administrators trample over successful programs and relationships in pursuit of metrics and displays of dominance, with the support and encouragement of Boards of Trustees.

A big part of the reason universities are in trouble is administrators keep creating and responding to manufactured crises, while refusing to address, e.g., questions of precarity, affordability, over-administration, community relevance, and long-term financial health.

2/2

#IndianaUniversity

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