- As someone whose first faculty appointment was where the free speech movement began – the University of California, Berkeley – I am simply stunned by this behavior on the part of the leadership at this university. I have never felt more gagged or threatened after expressing scholarly viewpoints and analysis of current events.
Very brave blog
Not sure I agree lil. Not so brave if you have tenure, full professorship and are tasked with raising shit about gender issues. Clearly if 11 of the 12 deans are white and 10 are men that is clearly and unfairly unbalanced and is not a workplace that I would want even if it was supposedly based upon credentials. I sure wish she provided a cite for that though. Odd that she would provide many citations and references but not for a key assertion/premise like that. However, she also tweets things like this: "'Canadian' is only used to refer to whites by kids at my children's schools, even white immigrants." Really? In Vancouver where there are so many non-white people and recent immigrants? I doubt it generally, that is not my experience and not that of my 6 non-white family members in Vancouver, some of them first generation. Two who are a UBC alumni and more than minor benefactors (who had never heard about this supposed controversy). I just asked and was told no. And RBC is in damage control mode because they fund [this little known innocuous program'(http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Faculty/Research_Centres/Gender_and_Diversity_in_Leadership_Initiative/Outreach)? Almost no one has heard of it and I doubt there is any liklihood anyone would so I doubt that too. She is stretching to say things like that IMO. I am disappointed by her repeated mentions of UC - Berkely in her posts and saying things like: "I am a full professor. Even if the university’s leadership doesn’t recognize it, I have a right to academic freedom and expression, free of intimidation and harassment. I cannot be fired for exercising this right." IMO that simply makes her sound like an angry, entitled elitist cis that is boasting and parading. That is not going to be a comment that reaches out to persuade more people to come into the diversity circle. And her statement that the former president of UBC "lost a masculinity contest" was just a nasty comment. She sounds very angry. Reminds me a a former prof's spouse named Constance Backhouse. A woman that constantly complained about suppression despite being awarded many accolades (perhaps she thought she deserved more than the Order of Canada), but told me at her table during a dinner party that my opinion about a historical event was not relevant as I was a hetero, white, man. When you are a hammer, everything looks a nail. I apologize in advance if I sounded confrontational as that was not my intention. Just relating my experience.
I see some irony reading the original post: That seems to be what Berdahl is doing here. She has little doubt that white male leadership was a key contributor to the President's departure, and when other's criticized her for her conclusions, she uses her leadership position to minimize their comments. Is lack of diversity an issue? Absolutely. When people are excluded better ideas may be lost. But I don't find Berdahl's blog posts as encouraging or promoting diversity.When work is a masculinity contest, leadership does not earnestly seek expert input, express self-doubt, or empower low-status voices. Instead, those who rise to positions of leadership have won the contest of who can seem most certain and overrule or ignore divergent opinions. Risk-taking, harassment, and bullying are common.
It doesn't seem like she has been silenced and it doesn't seem like she is the person who is most afraid in this situation. It seems like a surprising situation where the little person has the most freedom of action. Her superiors have been unmasked as her moral interiors. I'm sure in the long run they will find a way to grind her down but for the moment it seems like she is striking a blow for things she believes in that isn't abstract or academic.