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Holy Academia
By Cecil VergerAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Cecil Verger
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-0595-5Contents
I. Symbolic Liaisons.....................................1II. A Twist New..........................................9III. Ode to Dictators....................................14IV. Playing with Administrator...........................21V. On Being Verbose......................................26VI. Soft ness on the Trail...............................33VII. All about Humility and Humanity.....................39VIII. A Visit to Brazil..................................45IX. Gender Equity........................................50X. Financial Problems....................................56XI. Obliteration.........................................61XII. A Welcome Invitation................................67XIII. Ode to Friendship..................................72XIV. All about the Past..................................77XV. Contributions and Retribution........................85XVI. Because.............................................90XVII. Forbidding Distance................................98XVIII. Cupid's Waltz.....................................103XIX. Silences............................................108XX. Companionship........................................116XXI. El Dorado...........................................124XXII. Days of Yore.......................................132XXIII. All About What?...................................140XXIV. Revival of the Past................................148XXV. All About a Dragon..................................159XXVI. Wisdom and Logic...................................167XXVII. Benevolent Mishap.................................172XXVIII. Modern Living....................................179XXIX. Friends and Foes...................................184XXX. Half-Time Teaching..................................190XXXI. Civilization.......................................195XXXII. Humanity in Plexiglass............................202XXXIII. Life.............................................210XXXIV. Next Step.........................................215XXXV. Creativity.........................................220XXXVI. All About Friendship..............................230XXXVII. Indiscreet Trip..................................236XXXVIII. Sobriety........................................244XXXIX. Ars Amatoria......................................249XL. Bitterness...........................................257XLI. Depression Problem..................................264XLII. Wicker Basket......................................270
Chapter One
Symbolic Liaisons
It was very simple, at first. Professors teach in their field. They publish their research in their specialties. They attend conferences to learn and hear about the latest being done by their colleagues. If they are proficient in the three dimensions, they get promoted, which means they receive an increase in their yearly scheduled income, distributed monthly. Besides, as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, employed as a Teaching Assistant, not too highly paid, but in scholastic, and flattering situation, I was convinced that professors were direct descendants of universal Gods. Intelligent, learned, devoted, they did their utmost to educate their students. How could they be wrong about anything? At first glance, errors do not appear possible or at least likely. Wishful thinking! Assorted prejudices still prevail according to different predispositions, be they against blacks, whites, gays, the female gender, or even the male gender.
Happily employed in a mid-size university of about twenty-five thousand students, I realized on a sunny day that my salary was twenty percent lower than the salaries of my male counterparts who were doing exactly the same job, who had exactly the same ranking, and were hired at exactly the same time. I should be more precise. One of my friendly colleagues had a question that would change my life.
"Did you check the Report of Academic Staff?" she asked.
"What in the world is this kind of report?" I retorted.
"It is a list of professors in academia with their attributed earnings!"
The male gender was receiving favoritism beyond belief! Actually, long before, at the beginning of my career in the present university, the discrepancy was brought to my attention, through very odd circumstances. I had not been professionally in a position to react to the information. I had been hired and my contract was for three years; it was not wise to complain under these conditions.
At that time, I normally had lunch at the cafeteria. Now and then, I was joined by a colleague, George Tumeric, who came to the department at the same time I did. One day, George appeared rather distressed.
"What's the matter, George?" I asked. "You look somewhat befuddled."
"I cannot handle the drive to and from my house anymore," he volunteered.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It takes me two hours to come here and two hours to get back home every day. We have not been able to sell our home to date, and my wife has to remain on the spot to show it to possible buyers," he explained.
Collegial thoughts came into my mind.
"George, why don't you stay in my guest room? My children and I do not utilize it right now, and you are welcome to sleep there during the week, Check with your wife to see if this is agreeable," I said.
"Oh, Nicole, that would be a most welcome solution to my temporary problem of transportation. Thank you so much," he answered.
George moved in with me and my kids, and we became very good friends. One evening, during a casual conversation, he underlined how poorly university professors in his field were paid.
"Yes, indeed, after twenty-five years of schooling, one may indeed expect more compensation!"
"With a salary of fifteen thousand a year, my gasoline bill alone is a big handicap," he countered.
Astonished, I remained silent. We had both being hired in the 1970s, in 1977 to be precise, to perform similar duties, but his salary was three thousand dollars more than mine. One quarter of my salary more than what I was paid! I was in a state of shock that became worse when rumors were being created and spread about me and my behavior with married men. I was actually living, quite openly, in my home, with a married man! Gossip went around, without real and valid input. Obviously good deeds are not necessarily rewarded.
"Is it true that you and George are having an affair? He is married, you know. Some people think that it is a way of life for the French. Nicole, you are from France, are you not?" volunteered a usually very nice colleague.
Indeed, I was born in France, but I denied the rumors that stuck to my reputation during the following years. Personally, I was less influenced by the gossip than by the information about the salary discrepancy that George had revealed. Eventually, I just about ignored it, although it was not exactly easy to make ends meet.
But when discrepancies in salaries for the female gender were again brought to my attention, I already had received tenure in my position, a big and important insurance. Outside of academia few people realize the meaning of tenure, a warranty of employment for the rest of your working capacities, with health support. For no specific reasons I remembered the conversation I had with George and the information he had given me about salary. It had not stuck in my mind, nor been a negative attitude toward my duties. It is hard to explain.
I had a kind of reverence, mixed with the urgent need to do the right performance, which is the necessity to endorse at the proper time the correct behavior of a university professor. Oh, yes, review on Tuesday ... that means photocopies on Monday ... Exams on Wednesday morning but meeting of the University Council all afternoon; Thursday, office hours ... Oh! Yes, two students were doing poorly. I had requested they visit me at the time they suggested, not during my office hours, because they had a required class at that time. And this weekend I had to find time to correct the mistakes suggested on my research paper to be published in that first rate journal. I had accepted this extra job with great pleasure and satisfaction. Underlined for next Saturday was my middle son birthday; yet, it finally occurred to me that it was perhaps time to investigate the suggested inadequacy in my salary. To top it off, checking the Report of the Academic Staff truly got my dander up and drove me to pursue the subject further. But these thoughts prevailed during late Springtime. So, it was only by the beginning of the following academic year that I contacted the University Ombudsman for an appointment about possible solutions, or simply advice. The Ombudsman, I was told, serves as a resource person for faculty, staff, and students needing assistance in resolving university-related difficulties. It took a while to set a date, but eventually we met. Solutions were not obvious and, after more than one meeting, he decided that the best thing to do was to get input from the President of the University. It took several weeks before I was received, very courteously, by the President.
Actually, I thought, he didn't have a choice in the manner. I was a member of the University Council and, furthermore, a member of its most important subset, the Personnel Committee. As such, I have been invited many times to his home with other members of these committees. Of course, I did not try to squeeze in a hurried discussion after a UCPC meeting; instead I made an appointment to see him at a suitable hour through the proper channel. He graciously invited me and when I entered his office he greeted me warmly. I was rather surprised by the fact he was actually so tall, at least 6 foot 3 or 4, towering over me, very well dressed, wearing white shirt and tie. During the Council meeting, he was always very stiff with official attire, always sitting down, rather far away, and most of the times, he did not look and did not act very portentous. When I entered his office that day, he greeted me warmly.
"How nice to see you, Nicole."
"Thank you, sir," I replied, "for your willingness to speak with me. As I mentioned to your secretary when I made the appointment, I believe there is a questionable problem with my salary."
Graciously, he said: "We are always ready to answer questions. As I understand it you are very actively publishing in your field. What was the topic of your latest book?"
I felt obligated to answer. "My latest book was about the enormous and assorted contributions to culture and civilization contributed by the black people of the United States and other countries."
Other questions were asked and I really could not put in a word edgewise. The president of my university had obviously checked my curriculum vitae and was not about to commit himself one way or another. After a while he looked at his watch, and implied he had another appointment, but no solution or remedy was proposed at that time. I did not contact the president again to discuss the specific topic of faculty salary.
The problem, if there was one, ought to be addressed and fairness should be provided. But what was the shape of fairness in this case? And how was it to be handled? When you are on the receiving end of a business, it is difficult to realize or understand that every dime in a budget of many millions has already been allocated according to specific distributions. Furthermore, I was told, a university does not do, or is not involved, in what a person might privately be involved with, such as saving for a vacation or saving for old age. So where do you find back pay and important increase in a salary?
Somehow I developed some unexpected qualms. Perhaps I was unreasonable to challenge a university policy? How could such an important outfit be what I considered unfair with a particular faculty member? How could it be allowed if it was unfair? I kept vacillating between the pros and cons. Some of the administrators were likable coworkers. On the University Council Personnel Committee, the dean of the graduate school had the knack to tell, at the right time, an appropriate joke on the discussion we had just gone through. Furthermore, all these discussions gave me the impression of being conducted without prejudices, and with solid background on rules and regulations. So, although I was somewhat surprised part of me was very grateful when I was informed that another faculty member, at my level, without any suggestions or input from me, had forwarded a complaint and might also be considered for an adjustment. Indeed someone else was noting that some of us were financially victimized. I did not volunteer any information about that professor who had the reputation-perhaps false-to have sued, and lost her case, at another university.
Perhaps things were progressing swimmingly, it appeared, and I began to feel content. And it was O.K. to say, "Time will tell."
Chapter Two
A Twist New
For quite a while I received no news. Eventually, the University Corporation Counsel and Board of Trustees Parliamentarian called me and sent me to an attorney, Irving Huntley, a member of the College of Law. Immediately, I concluded the University was attempting to view the situation in a different light. I was being informed. The diagnosis was becoming clear. Injustices against me were being construed as prejudice against the female gender and if proven true, should be rectified.
The problem, if there is one, ought to be addressed and fairness should prevail and be provided. But, what was the shape of fairness in this case? And how should it be handled? When you are in the receiving end of a business, it is difficult to realize or understand that every dime in a budget of many millions has already been allocated according to specific distributions. So where do you find back pay and important increases in salary? No one in my entourage was able to present me with a simple solution.
It was not clear whether Irving was on my side or on the side of the University when we began the negotiations. Irving was dutifully explaining the problems I was creating while I was insisting on what a fair remedy would be. Perhaps he was forty percent on my side, but sixty percent of him remained as an attorney working and paid for by the University. He was not interested in my specialty, in my teaching, or my publications or my interest. As I had expected he was investigating the pros and cons in my case. We met on several occasions and I answered all of his questions to the best of my ability; furnishing all the proofs I could present if they existed as claimed. Indeed it was being noted that some of us were financially victimized.
Not totally surprised, part of me was grateful when Irving Huntley, asked if I objected if another faculty member, of the female gender, Monique Lebanon, were also to be considered as having a problem similar to the one I brought forward. There was no negative reaction on my part to that suggestion. I did not volunteer any information about a professor who had the reputation-perhaps false-to have sued at another university because she felt that female professors may, at times, had their qualifications and accomplishments misjudged. She lost her case.
Things were progressing swimmingly, it appeared, and I began to feel content! I realized that the situation needed a new evaluation; the Ombudsman was not in charge as he would have been for a minor problem within the university. Instead the whole problem was now in the hands of a trusted lawyer hired for the defense of the University. Then, one sunny day, Irving Huntley, still as a university attorney, and with whom I was on very good terms by then, called me with a question that implied shocking or at least surprising news:
"Are you dropping your charges?" he asked.
"Why would you think that?" I answered somewhat stunned.
"We had a meeting at 11:00 a.m. today; it's 11:45 and you didn't show up for our meeting this morning!"
No, I did not show up because the time had been changed for Spring, and I had not adjusted my clock! We had spent essentially one entire academic year discussing solutions to a problem which appeared, at first glance, not to have a solution! Final exams were on the program, and the whole affair was delayed to the forthcoming academic year. This part alone took more than a year and a half, but by then we were on the right road, or so it appeared. And, clearly, after meeting with me several times, Irving still did not know much about my personality. I was always on time, better still, always early no matter with whom I was meeting. As a teenager I would even beat my date at all the rendezvous I had wished for! How often I was blamed for being too eager!
In any case, I did not hire my own "defense" attorney. Irving was hired by the University to see just how much I knew and how good my case was. I gathered information through the available records of appointment as listed in the library as the detailed formation of each department. I checked also the statistics collected in a large assortment of different journals, concentrating on different fields Much to my surprise, I learned that being a "professor" did not mean that you had the same salary as was awarded to your next door neighbor. He was an engineer, and faculty members in the sciences were paid a lot more than the people in liberal arts for instance. I also learned much about the scale of authorities within a university. Each department had a "chair" who had much to say about the duty of the personnel in his department. But he had to report to the dean of that college and, as far as I could tell, the provost was in charge of it all while the President of the University was mostly involved in begging for financial help from the State. And probably that was not the whole story!
In short, to put it bluntly, I was kind of conducting my own secret service and spying with the help of assorted records discussed in numerous journals through the long months of summer. My claim was valid and so clear that I thought no argument could be brought forward-quite the contrary.
Somehow, and I don't know exactly how this happened, six other professors in the same field, at different levels of advancement, requested admission into the discussion on the same topic. This was no longer a minor financial conflict. With what amounted not only to present pay raises but also to back adjustment for several years is what was being requested. The resolution meant several hundred thousand dollars. The whole problem had become a major issue. And stress was now another point-the six additional complaints were made by faculty members, at different stages in their career, except all had something in common. All were indeed professor in the same department but all were of the female gender as it had been originally claimed in my personal case! We met on several occasions.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Holy Academiaby Cecil Verger Copyright © 2009 by Cecil Verger. Excerpted by permission.
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