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run the university, and it's kind of their job.
The faculty think they run the university,
and they do, through their influence in
the academic senate. The deans, so often
called "princes" in the academic world,
think that they run the university and,
again, their influence is undeniable. And
the staff believe they run the university,
and if you were ever to tell them they don't,
they might stop.
Hearing about this conversation, Bacon
quickly picks up the thread, saying: "The
students!" Students absolutely think they
run the place, or that they should. Then
he goes on to add: the government, which
pays the bills; and, the taxpayers, who pay
for the government. It's complicated.
Interestingly, Bacon lands exactly where
Piper did in her coaching conversation
with Andrew Petter. A president's only
real opportunity is to set the agenda, says
Bacon. "I can't go into the labs and make
discoveries. I can't write the exams." But,
he says, if he can establish an environment
of safety and harmony, "people will want
to come help."
Accordingly, Bacon says he is going to
continue to "listen, listen, listen," knowing
that "next year, there will be time for a pro-
cess of strategic planning, to find the best
ideas about what we can achieve—what we
can do today to make the best opportuni-
ties for tomorrow."
At the end of the day, though, Bacon
says it comes back to something that, as
someone in recovery, he has always known:
he is not now, and never will be, in control.
Contemplating the unfolding issues—an
always worsening financial crunch, argu-
ments about academic freedom, protests
and encampments on the campus lawn—he
recalls an earlier conversation in which a
colleague said, "Wouldn't it be nice if we
could just smooth out the bumps and do
the job?" To which another, wiser colleague
replied, "Nope. The bumps are your job."
It's one Bacon hopes to do with
"patience, humility and an open heart, a
willingness to listen and an understanding
that, the more you can get out of the way,
the better."
E D U C A T I O N
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