In Defense of Orgo Night
#12
H
Low Library Speaks;
but chooses not to be
honest with alumni
On
April 27, exactly one week before the spring Orgo Night show, which will be
performed outside Butler Library because the Marching Band remains banned from
performing the show in its traditional location inside the College Reading
Room, Hamiltonius at last received a response from the Columbia administration. After ten essays and one open letter to
President Bollinger, the powers that be decided that some acknowledgement and
response was necessary. The email from
Columbia is reprinted below, followed by our reply:
April 27,
2017. 1:13 p.m.
Dear Alumni,
We have
read all of the Hamiltonius emails and appreciate that the concerns you
expressed originate from a depth of caring about the Columbia community.
The
University has been working steadily to build a stronger sense of community for
all Columbians. Moving the Orgo Night event out of the library is
compatible with making the campus and its traditions serve all its
students. For some students, Orgo Night is an appreciated
stress-relieving break from their studies. For some others, it is an externally
imposed disruption that is a source of stress. We recognize that there
are strongly held views about preserving the Orgo Night tradition in its
entirety, and adjusting the tradition is difficult. We also appreciate
your feedback on the decision-making process we followed and are now working
closely with the student members of the Band on future Orgo Nights.
In
providing the Band with alternative settings where the Orgo Night tradition can
continue, we hope to accommodate everyone who wishes to be part of the event
and ensure that it is a choice for students about whether or not to
participate. It is with the differing needs and interests of students in
mind that we have taken this step. The Band continues to be an integral
and valued part of Columbia.
Sincerely,
John H.
Coatsworth, Provost
Amelia Alverson, Executive Vice
President for University Development and Alumni Relations
Ann Thornton, Vice Provost and
University Librarian
H
The Columbia administration finally
responded to our series of essays.
Perhaps this was prompted by continued press coverage on campus and by
continued inquiries and expressions of concern by scores of alumni. It seems clear from the list of persons copied
on the email that it was intended both to tamp down concern among Trustees,
faculty, and alumni groups and to get a positive message out to the university
press corps – being specifically sent to Bwog
and Spectator. But the reply fails to address the substantive
issues raised in our essays.
Even more disappointing is the statement by
the administration that “we are now
working closely with the student members of the Band on future Orgo
Nights.” This statement is not true. It is “fake news.” Bwog
immediately reported that the Band had heard
nothing from the administration about the scheduled May 4th Orgo
Night show or about the long-term future of the tradition. The Band released its
own statement on the subject on May 2, confirming the absence of any
engagement by university administrators.
We are saddened, but not shocked, by this prevarication.
Why
would President Bollinger and Dean Valentini – through this surrogated email – make
such an obviously false statement? Do
they think that we are not in communication with the current Band leaders? Do they think they can publish their letter
in the next issue of Columbia College
Today to rebut the letter in the current issue from leaders of the
Band Alumni Association and pull
the wool over the eyes of alumni around the world? Do they really think that by falsely stating
that they are engaged in a constructive process, they can avoid actually doing
so? The administration seems to think that
students and alumni alike are to be treated like toddlers, who can be placated
with soothing words spoken in a kind voice regardless of actual facts. President Bollinger and Dean Valentini have
apparently decided that suppressing Orgo Night is worth alienating hundreds of
Columbia alumni and future alumni (as the Dean likes to call them) across the
generations.
The
response from Low Library does acknowledge, although only inferentially, that
the true motivation behind the administration’s action is to suppress content in the Orgo Night show about which “some” students have
complained, and which causes these students “stress.” As we have noted in an earlier essay, there
is no evidence that any students have ever complained that they feel “stress”
because of the need to find an alternate study space for that particular 45
minutes once per semester. There is no
evidence that any student has ever been surprised by the appearance of the Band
in the College Reading Room on Orgo Night.
All evidence is to the contrary, and the administration’s reply email
does not even assert the existence of any such actual complaints, which
confirms our prior conclusion.
There is, in the administration’s
response, a grudging acknowledgement that the original decision’s lack of any public discussion or process was a mistake, but that
acknowledgement is followed immediately by the false claim that the
administration is now trying to “work with” the Band.
Where does this now leave us? No discussions have been initiated with
alumni (either the Band Alumni Association or our Hamiltonius group) or with
the Band’s student leaders. The spring
Orgo Night show will once again take place outside Butler. Is this the “new tradition” that the
administration wants? It may work in
May, but in December weather the outdoor performance is not a good, or
reasonable, long-term solution.
Perhaps the administration thinks
that its disingenuous email will placate the many concerned alumni and make us
(finally) go away quietly. They are,
again, entirely mistaken.
-
Hamiltonius
- H
