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Board of Trustees

sellsoap

Junior
Gold Member
Sep 1, 2001
1,347
2,579
113
somewhere in middle America
Two thoughts on Board of Trustee candidates:

First, the Peegs buddy - Eric P. - wow - no thank you. What a waste of a candidacy. I'm sure his intentions are good, but his bio/information page shared on the BoT voting page are just silly. No way would I want to entrust him with legitimate responsibility. I know he thinks he's funny, and he kind of is about 1/3 of the time, but he should not be on the BoT.

Second, here's a bio and a piece of it that caught my eye : Margaret Menge. At first, I was ok, this is interesting - refocus on academics, hire more scholars, make IU an excellent (much better than today) academic institution. OK. I'm listening. Then, she nailed it with the following info:

"Overall, I’d like the board to set a different tone for IU. We shouldn’t tolerate a university climate in which professors, students and staff tread lightly, afraid of running afoul of other students or staff – so afraid that the pursuit of truth is cut short, questions are neither asked nor answered, and lively discussions in the classroom and in dorms never take place.

Specifically, I’d like to see the university embrace the principles articulated in what’s become known as the Chicago Statement on Free Speech. This document was produced by a faculty committee that was appointed by the president of the university in 2014 following a tumultuous year in which speakers were roundly shouted down on campuses across the country.

More than 70 universities, including Princeton and Ball State, have since signed on to the principles in the Chicago Statement and have issued statements of their own, letting all faculty, staff and students know that the answer to speech we don’t like isn’t harassment or bullying: It’s more speech."


Damn - do we need this dose of reality on our Board of Trustees. I scanned the other candidates, and well - OK - there's a few that look capable - but man, did I vote immediately for Margaret Menge! I know some will disagree, and others will support my choice. Isn't that a great thing - debate and agree or disagree? Go Margaret... help get us back to that kind of culture, and not the woke world of canceling those you disagree with that we're seeing today.

Link : https://alumni.iu.edu/events/trustee-election/biographies/margaret-menge.html
 
Two thoughts on Board of Trustee candidates:

First, the Peegs buddy - Eric P. - wow - no thank you. What a waste of a candidacy. I'm sure his intentions are good, but his bio/information page shared on the BoT voting page are just silly. No way would I want to entrust him with legitimate responsibility. I know he thinks he's funny, and he kind of is about 1/3 of the time, but he should not be on the BoT.

Second, here's a bio and a piece of it that caught my eye : Margaret Menge. At first, I was ok, this is interesting - refocus on academics, hire more scholars, make IU an excellent (much better than today) academic institution. OK. I'm listening. Then, she nailed it with the following info:

"Overall, I’d like the board to set a different tone for IU. We shouldn’t tolerate a university climate in which professors, students and staff tread lightly, afraid of running afoul of other students or staff – so afraid that the pursuit of truth is cut short, questions are neither asked nor answered, and lively discussions in the classroom and in dorms never take place.

Specifically, I’d like to see the university embrace the principles articulated in what’s become known as the Chicago Statement on Free Speech. This document was produced by a faculty committee that was appointed by the president of the university in 2014 following a tumultuous year in which speakers were roundly shouted down on campuses across the country.

More than 70 universities, including Princeton and Ball State, have since signed on to the principles in the Chicago Statement and have issued statements of their own, letting all faculty, staff and students know that the answer to speech we don’t like isn’t harassment or bullying: It’s more speech."


Damn - do we need this dose of reality on our Board of Trustees. I scanned the other candidates, and well - OK - there's a few that look capable - but man, did I vote immediately for Margaret Menge! I know some will disagree, and others will support my choice. Isn't that a great thing - debate and agree or disagree? Go Margaret... help get us back to that kind of culture, and not the woke world of canceling those you disagree with that we're seeing today.

Link : https://alumni.iu.edu/events/trustee-election/biographies/margaret-menge.html
I believe that I have the right Margaret Menge in mind (could there really be two in Bloomington?) although the photo doesn't exactly jive with my memory of the person I knew briefly. I was a field supervisor (one of about 12 in Monroe/Greene) for the recently concluded census and met Margaret when she came thru the training my group of field supervisors conducted for our team of field enumerators (people who went door to door)...

Nothing against Margaret personally but of the three supervisors in my group, none of us particularly wanted her on our team based on our brief experience with her in training. She struck me as a "know it all" who despite being intelligent and capable of doing the job was just a little too needful of being micro-managed and seeking approval.

We had teams of around 25 people and we needed people to be both capable AND willing to complete their daily tasks on a semi-independent basis, without having to regularly call their supervisor repeatedly on a daily basis. I didn't work with Margaret, but I know that she was one of the people who monopolized much of her supervisor's time on a daily basis.

Her supervisor happened to be the house mother at a sorority, so in addition to her supervisor duties for the Census, she was also dealing with Covid-related issues as she was prepping her staff and students for the opening of school. Margaret was very helpful in obtaining info about student housing with all her connections, was very pleasant on the few occasions when I talked to her on the phone, and seemed like a nice enough person.

However, based on the amount of her supervisor's time that she monopolized on a daily basis and what I know of her inability to just do her job without repeatedly seeking her supervisor's formal approval, she is not someone I see as qualified for the BOD. And that's regardless of her politics...
 
Two thoughts on Board of Trustee candidates:

First, the Peegs buddy - Eric P. - wow - no thank you. What a waste of a candidacy. I'm sure his intentions are good, but his bio/information page shared on the BoT voting page are just silly. No way would I want to entrust him with legitimate responsibility. I know he thinks he's funny, and he kind of is about 1/3 of the time, but he should not be on the BoT.

Second, here's a bio and a piece of it that caught my eye : Margaret Menge. At first, I was ok, this is interesting - refocus on academics, hire more scholars, make IU an excellent (much better than today) academic institution. OK. I'm listening. Then, she nailed it with the following info:

"Overall, I’d like the board to set a different tone for IU. We shouldn’t tolerate a university climate in which professors, students and staff tread lightly, afraid of running afoul of other students or staff – so afraid that the pursuit of truth is cut short, questions are neither asked nor answered, and lively discussions in the classroom and in dorms never take place.

Specifically, I’d like to see the university embrace the principles articulated in what’s become known as the Chicago Statement on Free Speech. This document was produced by a faculty committee that was appointed by the president of the university in 2014 following a tumultuous year in which speakers were roundly shouted down on campuses across the country.

More than 70 universities, including Princeton and Ball State, have since signed on to the principles in the Chicago Statement and have issued statements of their own, letting all faculty, staff and students know that the answer to speech we don’t like isn’t harassment or bullying: It’s more speech."


Damn - do we need this dose of reality on our Board of Trustees. I scanned the other candidates, and well - OK - there's a few that look capable - but man, did I vote immediately for Margaret Menge! I know some will disagree, and others will support my choice. Isn't that a great thing - debate and agree or disagree? Go Margaret... help get us back to that kind of culture, and not the woke world of canceling those you disagree with that we're seeing today.

Link : https://alumni.iu.edu/events/trustee-election/biographies/margaret-menge.html
Eric P's statemen boils down to: I'm slightly funny, and I love IU. Oh, and delusional ("we will beat Purdue. Many times. Seriously.").

I thought the first guy (Steve Hollar) seemed good. Certainly better than Eric P. But I stopped after reading those two when it dawned on me: Why am I wasting time reading the bios of candidates for IU's Board of Trustees?
 
Two thoughts on Board of Trustee candidates:

First, the Peegs buddy - Eric P. - wow - no thank you. What a waste of a candidacy. I'm sure his intentions are good, but his bio/information page shared on the BoT voting page are just silly. No way would I want to entrust him with legitimate responsibility. I know he thinks he's funny, and he kind of is about 1/3 of the time, but he should not be on the BoT.

Second, here's a bio and a piece of it that caught my eye : Margaret Menge. At first, I was ok, this is interesting - refocus on academics, hire more scholars, make IU an excellent (much better than today) academic institution. OK. I'm listening. Then, she nailed it with the following info:

"Overall, I’d like the board to set a different tone for IU. We shouldn’t tolerate a university climate in which professors, students and staff tread lightly, afraid of running afoul of other students or staff – so afraid that the pursuit of truth is cut short, questions are neither asked nor answered, and lively discussions in the classroom and in dorms never take place.

Specifically, I’d like to see the university embrace the principles articulated in what’s become known as the Chicago Statement on Free Speech. This document was produced by a faculty committee that was appointed by the president of the university in 2014 following a tumultuous year in which speakers were roundly shouted down on campuses across the country.

More than 70 universities, including Princeton and Ball State, have since signed on to the principles in the Chicago Statement and have issued statements of their own, letting all faculty, staff and students know that the answer to speech we don’t like isn’t harassment or bullying: It’s more speech."


Damn - do we need this dose of reality on our Board of Trustees. I scanned the other candidates, and well - OK - there's a few that look capable - but man, did I vote immediately for Margaret Menge! I know some will disagree, and others will support my choice. Isn't that a great thing - debate and agree or disagree? Go Margaret... help get us back to that kind of culture, and not the woke world of canceling those you disagree with that we're seeing today.

Link : https://alumni.iu.edu/events/trustee-election/biographies/margaret-menge.html
Read her white paper that I linked in the other thread covering this. Concerning.
 
I made this point in another thread. I won't vote for a guy that runs down a school within the university. His SPEA crack just shows his ignorance. O'Neill is the top school of it's kind in the country, with several concentration areas ranked #1 and many more ranked in the top 10. He's too cute by about half.
 
the BOT has no filibuster rule i'm aware of, and the Governor appoints a majority of the board every yr.

how cosmetic are these elections, and last time/how often does an elected or student member cast the deciding vote on big issues.

i truly have no idea, and defer to those that follow these things, if there are any here.
 
Eric P's statemen boils down to: I'm slightly funny, and I love IU. Oh, and delusional ("we will beat Purdue. Many times. Seriously.").

I thought the first guy (Steve Hollar) seemed good. Certainly better than Eric P. But I stopped after reading those two when it dawned on me: Why am I wasting time reading the bios of candidates for IU's Board of Trustees?

because we live rent free in your head
 
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