Preparing for the worst

Dear folks,

Shimerians interested in pursuing independent legal representation for the
Community are invited to send their info (name, year of graduation if
applicable, willingness to contribute funds, anything else that seems
pertinent) to concerned.shimerians@gmail.com. Communications will be kept in
absolute confidence, as far as legally possible. So far 26 have signed on.
Thanks to Dan Merchan for suggesting this originally, and to Katie Harrell
for helping with the signup sheets.

Nobody wants things to work out this way.  It is with a very heavy heart
that I am holding on to the modest donation I had been planning to make this
month.  I would look toward actual legal action against the Board (which is
to say, against the College as institution) with indescribable horror.  And
it is unclear, at this juncture, what avenues might be available even if we
do pursue this.  Nonetheless, until the President and Board show by words and deeds that they are prepared to enter
into a dialog of equals with the community, the college will be in mortal
danger of being reduced to a meaningless shell.

In case anyone is wondering what all the fuss is about, here are some choice
words from current Trustees, as contained in the handout distributed at the
Assembly:

"I was surprised to learn that despite the recent By-Laws change there was
still a perception that governance of the College was a communal and
consensual process."  -- Bob Chitester

"It is disheartening to see from today's Assembly agenda that the issue is
still considered, by some, to be a matter of discussion and, furthermore, to
see that this 'discussion' continues to foster a culture of dissension at
the college." -- Claudia Allums

"I  understand that certain members of the Assembly may even plan to
introduce measures to reinstitute the participatory model of decision-making
that is no longer in effect  and that the Board rightly discarded eighteen
months ago..." -- Michael McDonald

"I understand that there are continued efforts among some Shimer faculty and
staff to contend for, and to propagate among the students, an understanding
of College governance that is contrary to the plain meaning of the
By-Laws..." -- Carson L Holloway

These people must be stopped.

Update: In response to some questions and concerns, let me clarify that any legal action (if any is possible) remains an extreme last resort.  However, it is imperative that we be prepared to take this step if it is necessary.  Much will depend on how (or if) the Board and President respond to the statements made by the Assembly.

Current Shimer Changes, Mission Statement, New President, etc

Via Denise Lane:

Hello! I'm writing you to make sure you, as Shimer alumns, have heard about the current goings-on at the college. I'm worried about the state of the college, as are faculty, students, staff, and other alumns I've spoken to.

The college is at a crossroads, and if the current president, Tom Lindsay, has his way, some faculty and students are allegedly considering walking out.

THIS SUNDAY, November 15th at 4:00pm is an Assembly meeting at the College, which all alumns are invited to attend (we are a non voting part of the Assembly, which means we can speak). At this meeting the Ethos of the College is being defended against a true attempt to significantly alter Shimer's mission. If you are in the Chicago area and can attend - PLEASE DO. I have more specific info I can forward you, just let me know.

Tom Lindsay wants to remake the college and his tactics frighten me. He fired Elaine, the Head of Admissions, without discussing it with anybody in the community, and in my view, without showing proper cause. (Besides which she was being more successful at bringing in the numbers than Shimer has *ever* seen before.) This has current staff members fearing for their jobs.

He then replaced her with a woman who was a student at his past university, who does not have the experience to hold the job. Further, he hired her against the Committee of the Assembly who had thrown out her application twice.

Both Lindsay and his new hire are not participatory in the dialogical method of Shimer, meaning to say I've heard the current community is very frustrated with his lack of listening. This concern is also held by faculty members.

The Board of Trustees does not stop him because it has ballooned by a large addition of *his* friends. The Shimer faculty and students who are on the Board have been ignored and yelled at in the meetings.

Apparently he wants to "water down" the mission of Shimer, and this Sunday's assembly meeting has an agenda item to specifically strengthen the mission instead. Please attend this if you can. I know that current Board members are planning on attending, the voices of alumns (read, possible donors in their mind) mean a lot!

If you are interested in knowing more, I suggest you sign up for "Listen" the Shimer email list which any member can post to, there has been a lot of back and forth on these issues on there. Also the President and the Board of Trustees are on the list as well.

If you are interested in more info, let me know. Otherwise thanks for reading this long. I truly believe in Shimer and I don't want a Neo-Conservative stonewalling and taking over just because he and his friends have a lot of money. Please help.

Thanks!!
:D

For those Shimerians who need to get on to Listen to receive the emails: lists.shimer.edu choose the first "this", choose "listen", and create a logon. It will email a confirmation. Let me know if you have any problems.

One is not born

http://chicagoist.com/2008/02/01/the_friday_flas_4.php

Ahem. Shown is a photograph of Simone De Beauvoir unclothed (one hesitates to say "naked") from behind. Even though I have settled down quite a bit in my old age, it is a lovely photograph and highlights the simple beauty of a healthy body.

Warning: if one is likely to be offended by the skin with which our gracious creator/ evolution has gifted us, or if your self-image is likely to be threatened when one does the math and finds out how old she is in this shot, you should probably not click the link.

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant...

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/hum/philosophy/philos_song.au

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/hum/philosophy/philos_song.html

Some Points to Which to Get

Well, anyway, some time after I graduated, I was living in an apartment in Hyde Park with some other former Shimerians and friends and working as a mailroom clerk at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago. I was still in touch with friends who remained on the Mount Carroll campus and would frequently go out to visit on weekends. We knew right away when the first closing was announced. We knew right away when the announcement was rejected and wondered what we could do to help.

I thought maybe I could find something in the archived papers of William Rainey Harper relating to the Frances Shimer Academy that might be useful, so I looked. What was most useful was actually a volume from the main stacks at the Regenstein which was evidently issued in connection with the memorial service at the time of Frances Shimer's death. How I used it (or should I say: "How it used me"?) was to write a song about the struggles of Frances Ann Wood and her partner Cinderella Gregory to establish and maintain the Mount Carroll Seminary from the point of view of one of the locals. The song has never really been finished- I got about as far as the Civil War and then the words stopped flowing.

I played as much as I got, though, out in Mount Carroll at Frances Shimer's final resting place, at alumni gatherings, at Orange Horses at the old campus, in Waukegan, and now in the Cinderella lounge in the new IIT digs. I'm told that David Shiner has kept the song alive even in my absence, which I guess makes it a genuine folk song or something. I can't wait to hear what Lance Dyke does with it on the ukulele. After my performance at the Orange Horse on the new campus I was told by some stranger who had evidently participated in the recent move from Waukegan that I had no idea how much that song has meant to the community during this last transition.

Maybe, but the song and the chord it seems to strike in the hearts of many Shimer people point to my first point: THE CORE OF THE SHIMER EXPERIENCE IS NOT THE GREAT BOOKS, NOT THE DIALOGIC PEDAGOGY NOR THE COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM; THE CORE IS A COMMUNAL LOVE OF LEARNING. I emphasize the "a". There are many other communal loves of learning but Shimer's is that shared by individuals gathered into a specific community streatching back to Frances Ann Wood and Cinderella Gregory.

There is more to be elaborated on this point but it has gotten late and I am still a working stiff, so later. Right now I want to make sure I get my second point out, which is: I have often been told that I should record that song (and other fine tunes inspired by my studies at Shimer.) OK, well I'm willing and if we find someone who can record them for commercial distribution I'm quite willing to sign my cut over to the College. If the songs are as successful as they might be, perhaps some more of our fair share of prospective students would hear about us. Trouble is I'm never going to make the arrangements, myself, so somebody else would have to push the project through to completion. I'll try at least to get the songs online somehow so anybody out there who cares and knows how can make their own judgment about the merits of the proposal.

Some other quick points without support or argument.

Start an online Shimer Historical Society to archive and share documentation of the history
of Shimer and its curriculum. Include reminiscences from alums (and old journal entries)

Buy an island 0n Second Life, scale model all three campuses and conduct virtual classes.

Get some sleep.