Planet Gore reports on the reaction of folks who live closest to the University of Tennessee about their plan to award AlGore an honorary doctorate.
They are not amused!
It's a tiny example of the disconnect OS ruminated on in his previous post.
In Tennessee, UT is for many folks a near-religious institution in their lives, an icon. If your kid gets to go to UT Knoxville, your family has achieved something, by golly. If your kid gets to play football for UT, you are local demi-gods.
Even so, times are tight. Tuition is way up, state money is down, and the dream is becoming more distant for many families.
So, the faculty and board decide to give AlGore (who wants to gut everything that makes life good in Tennessee for the sake of his nutter GlobalWarming rants), an honorary doctorate!!!
What are they thinking?
The additional expense of security at the commencement will be huge. Those dollars could have a better home, people might say...
Of course, this could be a tit-for-tat, with a significant chunk of money headed for the UT endowment from the Gore family. Of course, the announcements of the two events would be, shall we say, tastefully separated by time, so as to remain, well...tasteful. A follow-up building dedication may be in order, or perhaps a university presidency?
There's a move afoot in the Tennessee legislature that would specifically waive any academic requirement in order to serve as president of a state university. The sponsor cheerfully admits it's being done for an unnamed friend. AlGore, with his B.A., would certainly fit the description.
There's a search on for a new UT President. They've had a run of bad fortune in the position, but that's another story. And here we have AlGore, with his bright and shiny doctorate, and his tarnished Nobel Prize.
Hmm....what are they thinking?
The disconnect is breathtaking.
3 comments:
I have decided to name my Ocean Predator 13 fishing kayak in Al Gore's honor.
I'm going to go get some decals to spell out
USS Al Gore
for the port and starboard sides of the "lean, mean, green fishing machine" (no sh*t it is green in color but you know what I mean)
Jeff
What a way for a state to disgrace itself! I had no idea the Left was so infernally strong in Tennessee.
The principal function of a university president is to represent the school to the outside, particularly to potential donors. Do you suppose the idea is to try to get Soros' money for UT?
verification word: shines
@Dr. D: Well, not amongst the citizenry, but within the academy the slant to the left lives on. Again, symptomatic of a profound disconnect between the institutions and the citizenry they were formed to serve.
I don't think a State U should be slave to this year's popular opinion--there is value in the 'long view' that academia can offer. However, a sensitivity to the sensibilities of the constituents would be helpful.
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