Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Karla Holloway

A major theme of the blog has been the lack of academic accountability. Dozens of Duke professors rushed to judgment in the most public way possible, ignoring the academy’s traditional commitment to due process, as well as, simply, fundamental principles of fairness. Several of these professors, over the duration of the case, appeared to violate Duke policies. Yet there never was any indication that Duke disciplined, in any way, even one of its rogue professors. (Contrast their fate with that of Mike Pressler.) And, as the subsequent careers of Group of 88’ers Houston Baker (hired by Vanderbilt) and Grant Farred (hired and promoted by Cornell) demonstrated, it wasn’t simply Duke that had no interest in accountability.

In government or the corporate world, a scandal such as the faculty’s response to the lacrosse case almost certainly would have triggered some sort of inquiry. Such an inquiry would have addressed, among other matters, hiring policies. In the context of Duke, the question is obvious: did the obsession with “diversity,” a characteristic of Group of 88’er William Chafe’s tenure as provost (which ended in 2004) result in the hiring of an increasingly groupthink-oriented faculty, whose rush to judgment on the lacrosse case illustrated a broader closed-mindedness on issues of race, class, and gender? And did the faculty’s record in the lacrosse case suggest that Duke should think twice about its personnel priorities?

These were, of course, questions that Duke didn’t want to address, since doing so would have alienated powerful constituencies on campus. (Recall the fate of Larry Summers at Harvard.) Instead, the university has doubled down on its hiring patterns: if the lacrosse case occurred today, the Group of 88 would probably be the Group of 100. (Such a hypothetical statement probably would also contain a throwaway line about due process, to deflect criticism.)

The latest indication of hiring trends is an announcement from Duke that the Faculty Council that its meeting this week will be devoted to what a Duke press release terms a “discussion” about “diversity” in faculty hiring. Needless to say, neither intellectual nor pedagogical diversity appear to be on the agenda.

Four faculty members have been invited to “make short opening remarks to start the conversation,” under the heading of “diversity andinclusiveness” at Duke. The first professor listed? Group of 88 extremist Karla Holloway (who was back in the news this week defending her extremism on another front, championing the ASA’s anti-Israel boycott). Holloway will be followed by Kerry Haynie, who close followers of the case might recall as the professor who illustrated his conception of “inclusiveness” by sending a wildly intemperate, threatening e-mail to Steve Baldwin, the first Duke professor to speak up about the lacrosse players’ treatment by their university.

By this stage, no one should be surprised that the Group of 88 and their allies continue to be influential voices on personnel policy a Duke. Accountability, it seems, will never arrive in Durham. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you think Duke should do to show the world they are accountable?

Admit the false flag event that was the lacrosse case? And THEN what?

It would be interesting to see what would happen if they did that versus what they are doing now and have been doing in their political games that most can't find the logic or reason for - they should go for it.

Do you have a means to successfully communicate to Duke in a way that they will take the accountability of listening to the complaint of unaccountability that you have KC? And if Duke actually did 'listen', do you think they would actually change the path they are on? What different path do you suggest? Everything that is opposite of what the 88 complained about, or would it be a compromise to include the diversity of inclusiveness and equality of opportunity and advancement for all (or to put it more bluntly - so duke is no longer killing and harming and exploiting the well-being of many for the 'advancemnt' of a few)?

Anonymous said...

Is Hollowell a Communist?

Thignuggaintellectual said...

Wasn't she once a Spice Girl?

Anonymous said...

If Karla Holloway is part of ANY hiring at Duke could Duke be held responsible for discrimination because of national origin because of her support of the ASA boycott?

Anonymous said...

Rest assured, Cornell has regretted hiring Farred the moment he arrived in Ithaca. It's not as if they didn't realize they were hiring a walking, talking train-wreck from the start, though.

Anonymous said...

Has President Obama started that investigation yet?
NoG

Duke Alum said...

This is why I still won't give them any money.

Anonymous said...

well, I do give them a little bit of money. They get their 88 dirty pennies every year!

Anonymous said...

Karla Holloway will be on NPR's "The State of Things" today discussing her new book. Some of you might want to tune in so that your heads can explode.

Jay Knott said...

OK, so 88-er Karla Holloway supports the ASA boycott of Israel. But "President Brodhead, along with ten other members of the American Association of Universities (AAU), cosigned a letter condemning the protest on the basis that it violates the academic freedom of Israeli scholars".