Senior Reflections: Atypical, Unexpected, and Worth It
Last weekend, I visited my best friend at another top university. I arrived Thursday night and didn’t see a sober person again until I returned to Emory Sunday evening. The experience was jarring and a reminder that the 1962 classic “Animal House” lampoons a world that does exist on college campuses. I know many people who think that this is the only world you should experience in college. I’m not one of those people. When I graduate in May, I will do so knowing that I have carved out my own unique college experience. I dedicated my entire college career…
Wagner Apologizes, Pushes Forward
University President James W. Wagner faced criticism on fronts ranging from the department changes announced last fall to his controversial column this spring and a widening disconnect between the central administration and faculty at the College faculty meeting Wednesday. Given that the faculty body had censured him at its last meeting and tabled a motion on whether to hold a vote of no confidence, many saw the meeting as pivotal for Wagner’s future as president. Most recently, the departments of psychology and English submitted letters to the Board of Trustees asking them to “reflect deeply on what accountability for such…
Wagner’s Full Response to Column Taken Down
Ninety percent of University President James W. Wagner’s response for his controversial column on compromise has been taken down. The full statement appears to have been truncated to include only the first 71 words of Wagner’s 687-word response before directing readers to the Emory News Center and an article written by Nancy Seideman, the associate vice president of university communications. Published in the winter issue of Emory Magazine, the piece sparked local and national outrage two weeks ago when Wagner upheld the Three-Fifths Compromise as an example of political compromise. By Sunday, Feb. 17, Wagner had added a statement to…
Faculty Censure Wagner, Consider No Confidence
UPDATED: February 22, 2013 College faculty voted to censure University President James W. Wagner over his controversial column in Emory Magazine at their monthly meeting Wednesday. A censure, clarified one faculty member, is “an expression that you deplore what he said. [It’s] a little stronger than a reprimand, but not as strong as a vote of no confidence.” Faculty also voted down the motion to stop the formation of an independent committee to review the department changes announced last fall. As previously reported, the committee will examine the criteria used to cut departments and the communication process by which the…
Controversy Arises Over Wagner’s Column
University President James W. Wagner is under fire for a column many have characterized as racially insensitive. The article was published in the winter edition of Emory Magazine. The column drew immediate local and national criticism, spreading across Twitter and blogs and even catching the eyes of Gawker and Salon, two national media groups whose stories have received a combined 250,000 “likes” on Facebook by Monday night. In the piece titled “As American as … Compromise,” Wagner discusses how political compromise is an integral part of history and necessary for moving forward. Wagner proceeds to cite the Three-Fifths Compromise, an…
Committee to Review Department Changes
By the slimmest of margins, College faculty voted in favor of an independent review committee that would investigate the decision-making process that led to the department changes announced last semester. The motion, which passed on Wednesday at the monthly faculty college meeting, set specific guidelines and clarified the original version of the resolution passed in December. The final vote passed 88 to 84. Faculty also voted to create a committee to examine faculty governance in the College and potentially recommend structural reforms. The motion, which passed almost unanimously, is a clarification of the initial motion, which originally passed in December…
A Graduate’s Guide to Dinner
Graduation is just four months away, but seniors are already making reservations for their celebration dinners. It is a momentous occasion, and a prime opportunity for many students to capitalize on their parents’ generosity one more time before becoming adults and having to deal with things like rent and a job and life. Of course, kudos to those who already deal with these things. We do not envy you. For the rest of us, here are eight suggestions that will not disappoint. Cheers. Empire State South (404) 541-1105 Canadian homeboy and Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson has made a…
Faculty Vote to Review Dept. Changes Process
Emory College faculty have voted in favor of conducting a review of the departmental changes announced in mid-September. The motion to nominate and elect faculty members to an independent review board was brought up at the last faculty meeting before winter break and passed 64 to 54. While details of the review process will be decided in the coming weeks, faculty members expressed a desire to know how the decision-making process was carried out, with specific attention on the Governance Committee, which is the main governing faculty body, and the College Financial Advisory Committee, the group College Dean Robin Forman…
Committee Responds To AAUP Letter
Emory’s main governing faculty body has rejected the notion that “faculty governance was done improperly” in response to criticisms from a national organization that supports academic freedom at universities. The national office of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) sent a letter to University President James W. Wagner in December in support of AAUP members at Emory calling for a full review of the department changes. The local group consists of more than 60 Emory faculty and former administrators and is part of a national organization comprised of more than 500 campus chapters. College Dean Robin Forman, who spearheaded…
Univ. Board of Trustees Affirms Dept. Changes
Emory’s Board of Trustees has affirmed the department changes announced in mid-September, the Wheel has learned. Chairs of journalism, visual arts and educational studies departments and directors of the Institute for Liberal Arts (ILA) and economics graduate program submitted a joint letter to the Board on Nov. 6 expressing their discontent with the decision. The Board met two days later on Nov. 8 and “affirmed its support for the decisions and processes of Dean [of College Robin] Forman and the University administration,” according to an email to concerned faculty from Rosemary Magee, vice president and secretary to the University. The…
