This is a modified version of an email I sent to my Colleagues this past semester. Andrew Lund is a Colleague who teaches in the film component of the Department of Film and Media Studies. This blog post addresses what I consider a major act of departmental calumny. Modifications regarding the email had to do with copyediting.
Every Colleague who signed off the November, 10, 2010 minutes, as scripted by Ricardo Miranda, knows the following is a BF Lie.
“Lund: Question of student work censored, how do we deal with miscommunication considering a cancelled screening and accusation of censorship? Jay Roman offered a verbal explanation regarding the cancellation- the screening was cancelled due to hurtful and derogatory emails. Greg Morris demanded to know who the emails were hurtful to, Jay did not immediately reply as he continued to voice his explanation. Morris again demand to know to whom the emails were hurtful to, now yelling his demand in an aggressive manner. Both men stood up in a threatening manner, threats were screamed at one another.
“End of meeting.”
Of all the D:F/M BF Lies, and there are many, this one is transcendent. It must be shared. I wouldn’t mind, however, knowing before the sharing, how Colleagues feel about a poetic waxing, such as describing the Lund Paradigm as a sign of “The Depraved Caroling of the Pathetically Insane” or, “The Pathological Yodel of Hillbilly Yahoos.” ☺
Iconic if there ever was an iconic D:F/M BF Lie. What about T-Shirts, “I LIKE TO TELL BF LIES” or “I AM A DEMONIC CAROLER WHO IS PATHETICALLY INSANE.” Hunter Purple? ☺
The rest is in the attachment.
I wonder who’s up for Sacrificial Lamb(s), ready to dive on their sword(s) for the greater good of the Hillbilly Yahoos or the Pathetically Insane who cooked up this BF Lie. Is this the time for review of the other BF Lies? Are junior faculty fretting that when they travel beyond the barriers of D:F/M to appear, say, before a committee or committees, someone might ask, Are you a member of, or have you ever been a member of, a tribe of Diabolical Ranting Hillbilly Yahoos?
Those planning to fall should remember what happened to the former instructor who believed he had a close relationship with the Chair and the PSC Chapter Chair. He was thrown under a train. Kicked under a bus. Hurled over the transom. Stabbed in the back (beyond recognition). Shoved off the cliff. Academically Eviscerated. Etcetera. Etcetera. You can read his comments/insights/opinions in an upcoming issue of the WORD when it revisits the Clemente Soto Velez controversy. Paraphrasing Mulder, sort of, quotation marks for effect, “The Truth Needs to Be Out There.” It needs to be shared.
Will Princess Hee Haw and the Hee Haw Rangers develop a strategy? Protect the Hunter College PSC Chapter Chair whose name and performance November 10 cannot be erased, will not be erased, no matter how hard the Great Minds scheme? Will there be enough energy left to protect everyone else who’s going to need protection? Etcetera.
So:
– A rotating ad hoc committee of journalists, alumni, Colleagues and others have been reviewing the “hurtful and derogatory” emails. Their findings to be widely disseminated.
– The students whose collaborative project with Professor Joelle Gonzalez was cancelled by the Chair because of “hurtful and derogatory emails,” according to the Chair/Miranda/et. al.: Their accounts to be disseminated widely.
– The former department IT staffer says two members of the department – one staff and a non-tenured, fulltime Colleague – filed phony Violence in the Workplace complaints against him. They are to be out-ed. The former IT staff member was very loyal to the department (his fidelity embraced students, however,), and I warned him repeatedly that “a lot of these people are nuts” and “sadistic” and that his loyalty was unappreciated. More about this later.
– Ricardo Miranda’s memorabilia and the Lund Paradigm need to be shared with the Greater Hunter Community … and Beyond. We all know that, right?
– Under considerations: Boycotts, pickets, unimaginable salvos of litigious righteous indignation, et. al., such as Brendan-Cruz-Gate.
Best,
GM
[More to come]
Tags: Academic Bullying, bullying at Hunter College, workplace bullying