In response to the ongoing movement to improve various aspects of Wheaton’s administration, I will say this: clarity, transparency and consistency are fundamental components of leadership.
For instance, the Grammy Awards, the supposed premier program for musical achievement, suck. Why? Well, as leaders of the music industry, the Grammys are totally fraudulent. I truly don’t understand how the “committee” can choose “an hour of sterile, boring, incessant bro chants and caveman banjo strumming,” as I so aptly described it on Facebook after the show ended on Sunday, as 2012’s greatest musical achievement. It’s unclear how Mumford & Suns critically and culturally earned an Album of the Year award over acclaimed acts like Frank Ocean, Jack White, and the Black Keys. Of course, the awards process is only transparent in the wrong ways—anyone with a brain in his or her head can see that the Grammys are a giant business propagated by corporate leaders like Billboard and the RIAA to promote the radio, but we’ll never know just how they go about rigging the process in such a patently useless way. And, of course, there’s the inconsistency—the Grammys can’t decide if they want to be like the Academy Awards and pick critically relevant winners, or function as a popularity contest. Some years, critically adored bands like the Arcade Fire can win. Others, mediocre groups that sell well take the prize. The show, of course, is worse for all of the confusion. Find an angle and stick with it.
So, I’m all for students pushing for more clarity, transparency and consistency from the administration on our campus. Room for improvement exists in almost any administrative system. However, let’s be real: our administration is quite a bit more competent than the Grammy Awards. While I’m very sympathetic toward the goal of bringing positive change to leadership at Wheaton, it is probably in everyone’s best interest to practice what is preached. That’s the only way things will change.
And hey, if you’re frustrated, keep standing up for what you believe in respectfully. You’ve heard that one song (or ten songs, or whatever) by Mumford & Sons. Fight! Hold out hope! Sing! Fight some more! Yeah!
Okay, so that was a bad, deeply sarcastic example. Here’s a better one: be like Frank Ocean and follow your dreams. Be tolerant, thoughtful, honest and creative, because doing so will always produce the best results. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.