Things seem to be getting back to normal at the University of Missouri after the resignation of Tim Wolfe as president and R. Bowen Loftin as chancellor. An interim president and chancellor have been appointed; the football team has split its past two games; and everyone is preparing for the mad rush of final exams, papers, presentations, and parties.
After a collective deep breath, how can Mizzou best harness the energy that prompted these changes to move towards a more…..
I have heard about college campus protests throughout my life from my Dad, a professor at a small, prestigious college. While sympathetic to protesters’ concerns, he viewed them as irksome entertainers. News broadcasters generally described them as confused, spoiled brats.
When I was in college, divesting from corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa and gay rights were the primary issues that galvanized protesters, while discrimination against African Americans was the issue of choice when I was in graduate school……
Dr. Ben Carson broke down economic and social barriers to become a world-renowned surgeon and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
I broke down social barriers to become moderately successful at assisting groups, organizations, and coalitions to get better by leveraging their strengths.
Dr. Carson has been known to be a loose cannon.
So have I.
Dr. Carson is African American.
“The only way you wouldn’t know he’s black is if you were blind and only listened to…..
Once in a while, I listen to music in my cluttered downstairs basement, accompanied by Heath, my black Lab guide dog with the soul of a football player; Luke “King” Poodle; and Hunter, a 75-pound tuxedo poodle.
Recently, I listened to the “Sunrise Mass”, written in 2007-08 by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. As I sat back in my chair mesmerized by the opening ten minutes, instinct told me to reach out with my right hand, and there sat Hunter, straight…..