Friday, September 02, 2005
The Curtain Rises
Sometimes, seemingly inconsequential acts by ordinary people have a way of illuminating larger societal problems: Rosa Parks, Cindy Sheehan, Lois Gibbs.
And now along comes Perry Mills, a crusty professor of drama and cinema at a backwater university in America's forgotten fourth corner.
He'll probably rake me over the coals for my abuse of the English language in attempting to dramatize his ordeal, but fair enough--he's the professor.
Professor Mills, for all his alleged shortcomings in the social graces, is--in his own words--fighting Western Washington University's "sycophantic culture" that led to his suspension in October 2004. And this, I contend, is important, not because of Professor Mills' political beliefs--as when Ward Churchill confronted Second Lady Lynn Cheney's prurient pugilists a year ago--but rather, because when all the dust has settled around the belated charges and trumped up allegations of misconduct, Professor Mills is being punished for his long history of academic integrity, which led him to become a whistle-blower against the embezzling of students' fees--what I suspect is a widespread practice, well beyond the bounds of WWU.
Because this lowly, tenured professor of theater arts, in the backwater known as Bellingham, Washington, will soon be taking his case before the U.S. District Court in Seattle, we all might possibly learn something about how ivy-covered state institutions of higher learning in these United States both perpetuate our compliant corporate culture, and corrupt cooperative creativity. (I realize that's a redundant phrase, but the good professor needs something to correct.) And that, as is in our myriad of once venerable institutions, is a tragedy that cries out for remedy.
The drama of Professor Mills is only beginning to unfold, but as the curtain rises on this sordid affair, a light begins to shed in a weblog constructed by a former and grateful student, and it is there I direct your attention for what promises to be a most entertaining and provocative production.
http://www.perrymills.blogspot.com
And now along comes Perry Mills, a crusty professor of drama and cinema at a backwater university in America's forgotten fourth corner.
He'll probably rake me over the coals for my abuse of the English language in attempting to dramatize his ordeal, but fair enough--he's the professor.
Professor Mills, for all his alleged shortcomings in the social graces, is--in his own words--fighting Western Washington University's "sycophantic culture" that led to his suspension in October 2004. And this, I contend, is important, not because of Professor Mills' political beliefs--as when Ward Churchill confronted Second Lady Lynn Cheney's prurient pugilists a year ago--but rather, because when all the dust has settled around the belated charges and trumped up allegations of misconduct, Professor Mills is being punished for his long history of academic integrity, which led him to become a whistle-blower against the embezzling of students' fees--what I suspect is a widespread practice, well beyond the bounds of WWU.
Because this lowly, tenured professor of theater arts, in the backwater known as Bellingham, Washington, will soon be taking his case before the U.S. District Court in Seattle, we all might possibly learn something about how ivy-covered state institutions of higher learning in these United States both perpetuate our compliant corporate culture, and corrupt cooperative creativity. (I realize that's a redundant phrase, but the good professor needs something to correct.) And that, as is in our myriad of once venerable institutions, is a tragedy that cries out for remedy.
The drama of Professor Mills is only beginning to unfold, but as the curtain rises on this sordid affair, a light begins to shed in a weblog constructed by a former and grateful student, and it is there I direct your attention for what promises to be a most entertaining and provocative production.
http://www.perrymills.blogspot.com
