[917] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: some thoughts
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert M. Randolph)
Fri Oct 5 14:44:18 2001
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Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 14:22:11 -0400
Reply-To: "Documentation at http://web.mit.edu/beland/talk/talk.html"
<MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU>, "Robert M. Randolph" <randolph@MIT.EDU>
From: "Robert M. Randolph" <randolph@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <20011004220927.I31168@innocuous.mit.edu>
Friends, at the risk of being redundant and a bit inflammatory (nothing
new on this list, but it goes against my grain) let me offer some thoughts:
1. The conversation about Marilee's article is about opinions offered
elsewhere and conclusions based on that work. It may surprise you to know
that there has been lots of conversation already about her conclusions.
The interactions have been civil and minds have been changed. It has been
an ongoing conversation. You should have the same with her. Richard
Tibbetts is to be commended. Many of you know she is accessible on e-mail;
more of you should know she can be talked with. AND she is not the enemy.
2. This leads me to some myths you should know about before you endorse them:
a. There is the myth that the administration speaks with one voice;
maybe we should, but you can find lots of opinions and strategies. The key
is working with people to make their agenda yours or vice versa.
b. There is a myth that the administration thinks it does not have
to work with students because they will graduate in four or fewer years.
Wish we did think that way since it would make things simpler if not more
successful, but we do not and you do not (graduate in four years; some
stay for decades). We know that.
c. The administration is often deceived by the myth of student "buy
in" to shared conclusions. Simply put this is the notion that things
talked about two/three years ago will be remembered today. There will always be
the need to explain and justify and modify. Conclusions in life are always
(often?) tenative. There is no place that is more true than student life.
So the appropriate response to administrative actions is not: "here we go
again, screwed over." But "Here we go; it is our chance to affect the
process." You should ask questions and we should have to explain. That is
the way it works.
d. There is the myth that we will all agree on outcomes, i.e.
every conclusion will be acceptable to all. Now you know this is not true
(e.g. frosh on campus); this is a community and decisions always rankle
some and the some are not just students. We work hard to get good outcomes
and then live with the results and modify them as they prove fallible.
e. There is the myth that the best tactics are those that stop the
process. Sand thrown in gears gets ground up; those who change the gears
change the outcome.
Talk is easy and the process of involvement takes time; I know that and we
all do not have enough time--except for some of you who seem to major in
writing on this list--but change is the nature of the universe and we are
going to change here at MIT. Always have, always will. The question is
always "How is change mediated?" That needs to be a communal activity.
Dr. Robert M. Randolph
Senior Associate Dean
Housemaster-Bexley Hall
617-225-9618 (h)
617-253-4052 (O)
