Column by Taylor Shelton

In this, my final column, I could wax poetic about how excellent my tenure as a writer for this paper has been. Whether or not you agree with me or enjoy my writing style is a different matter, but it would be dishonest of me to say that my writing has achieved its goal. The resurgence of debate over President Lee Todd’s ever-increasing compensation package is a testament to the fact that writing about something doesn’t change it.

To be able to reflect so fondly on my six months writing columns, our university would needed to have done many things – invest a significant amount of money into sustainability initiatives, force Todd to return all of his $150,000 bonus, crack down on discrimination of all kinds, work to make Lexington a community that works for and with students, all while promoting an open and accountable system of university governance that includes everyone involved (not just the higher-ups who truly embody the spirit of “the Ivory Tower,” looking down at the rest), deciding what goes and what doesn’t. But these things haven’t really happened – at least not like I wanted them to.

Unfortunately, we still seem to be digging our way out of Mark Twain’s ever-present proclamation that our Commonwealth will always be 20 years behind the rest of the nation. The poor management of the state budget for the past several years does not help us in this regard – and the massive divestment from public education bodes even worse for our future. But just as much as it is the fault of any number of bureaucrats from the last ten years, it is the fault of all our institutions and, to a degree, ourselves.

We have failed to adequately hold our leaders accountable. Whether it is Todd’s unwillingness to follow suit with other university leaders in rejecting pay increases during rough times, our state’s obsession with throwing subsidies and tax breaks at ill-conceived business opportunities with little hope of positive financial return, or the millions invested in adding a new lane to I-64 while our state’s educational system loses money daily, we haven’t quite gotten the picture yet. Rather, we haven’t quite told our leaders what the picture is.

As much as we get caught up in looking to our leaders, whether it’s the university president, mayor, state legislators, governor, senators and congressmen, or the president-elect, the fabric of our country should rest on our own shoulders. A lackluster politician can’t be one without the complacency of his or her constituents. Likewise for a university president who, despite not having a regular election to reassess performance, can be held accountable by the many students, faculty and staff who have grown dissatisfied with his tenure.

Once we get past the pitfalls of labeling one another, we can truly do good for our community. While our differences often run abound, it is our single similarity – the desire to make our world a better place – that drives our actions. And only through a common cause of holding our leaders, and one another, accountable, can we follow up on that desire. So while my writing may not have accomplished all I had hoped for, at least I did my part. And only through a concerted effort by each and every individual on this campus, whether your talents be in leadership, the arts, science or anything else, can we make those lofty goals a reality.