D3. Best Written Work,Crisis Opinion Paper: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and "The Chief"
LO 9: Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance
The entry contains a paper I submitted for SDAD 576 Leadership and Governance in Post-Secondary Education. We were charged with identifying and analyzing a campus crisis, particularly examining institutional response. I chose to analyze a crisis that occurred and is still occurring at my alma mater: the retiring of our controversial mascot, which has led to a deep divide among students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
This entry shows my understanding of governance and policy by illustrating the important role visionary leadership can play in preventing and responding to a campus crisis; I also demonstrate awareness of transparency as a leadership skill, and illustrate my ability to listen to voices of the oppressed.
References
Farrington, G. C. (2005). The importance of values and principles: A response to President DuBois’ essay. In D. Brown (ed.), University Presidents as Moral Leaders (pp. 59-62). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
The entry contains a paper I submitted for SDAD 576 Leadership and Governance in Post-Secondary Education. We were charged with identifying and analyzing a campus crisis, particularly examining institutional response. I chose to analyze a crisis that occurred and is still occurring at my alma mater: the retiring of our controversial mascot, which has led to a deep divide among students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
This entry shows my understanding of governance and policy by illustrating the important role visionary leadership can play in preventing and responding to a campus crisis; I also demonstrate awareness of transparency as a leadership skill, and illustrate my ability to listen to voices of the oppressed.
- Visionary leadership. In times of crisis or turmoil, it is especially important for leaders to maintain a vision for their campus. I recall during my time in EDAD 570 Leadership in Education I, we played ‘The Politics Game” where we were all assigned roles in a university and given certain tasks to further during the allotted time. This experience stands out to me because the person who was representing university leadership (including the Board of Trustees and the President) took many opportunities to relay their vision for the institution to the wider campus community. While we did not always agree, this display of visionary leadership garnered trust and buy-in from the community because it demonstrated strategic thinking and a long-term commitment to the institution. I carried this lesson while writing this artifact.
- Be real. Transparency is an important tool for leadership and policy development, particularly around controversial topics and in times of crisis. According to one university president, “I think it is important to be honest, candid, and human…If you talk like a lawyer, you just do not connect. People are a lot more understanding and forgiving if you are real” (Farrington, 2005, p. 61). Authenticity is one of my core values, and is also something I deeply value in coworkers and supervisors—being transparent about shortcomings or biases is not a sign of weakness, and garners more trust than it does lack of confidence.
- Listen to voices of the oppressed. My biggest take-away from my coursework at UIUC and from revisiting the issue of “The Chief” through this assignment is this: “what part of ouch don’t you understand?” When someone is hurting from the impact of your actions or words, it does no good to tell them that you did not mean to hurt them, and that if they really think about it, they should not be hurting at all because your intentions were good. The case is similar for those who are offended and suffering because of a racially hostile campus climate. You cannot erase hurt. When fellow students speak about feeling marginalized or unsupported, I make sure to listen deeply and openly, with no judgment—to discount these voices as “incorrect” would be to uphold White supremacist culture. As a leader, I carry this lesson with me, and I hope that I can continue to listen to the voices around me to inform my work as a professional.
References
Farrington, G. C. (2005). The importance of values and principles: A response to President DuBois’ essay. In D. Brown (ed.), University Presidents as Moral Leaders (pp. 59-62). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
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