Column by Joe Peek
The inability of students and others to be heard at the most recent UK Board of Trustees meeting highlights a serious problem at UK.
The trustees have erected a wall around themselves to prevent access by students, faculty and staff who desire to voice their views and concerns about decisions being made that are important for the future of this university, as well as for the citizens of Kentucky.
Our students were not allowed to speak because they had not followed the procedures for being approved to speak. However, as noted in a Nov. 18 Kernel article, the governing Administrative Regulation (AR 1:2) is such that interested parties are essentially prevented from addressing the board in a timely fashion. Clearly, we need an expedited process whereby interested parties can be heard by the trustees on matters that are important for the UK community.
AR 1:2 became effective in 1970, presumably to ensure that anti-war activists would not be able to express their views to the trustees. However, the result is essentially everyone, other than perhaps a fat cat donor, is denied access. In fact, I was somewhat confused about the specific reference in this instance of the Kernel banner that appeared just above the article stating: “CELEBRATING 38 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE.†Could it be referring to the independence of the UK Board of Trustees from the views of the UK community since AR 1:2 went into effect?
Of course, the highlight of the Kernel article for me was the statement by UK spokesman Jimmy Stanton, “It’s been in place for 39 years, so obviously it’s working.â€
The UK football team has lost to the Florida Gators for 23 consecutive years. I guess Stanton would similarly conclude things are working well in this case, too, and thus should not be changed. As for me, I tend to focus on just exactly for whom it is working. In the case of football, it is working for Florida but not so well for UK fans. In the case of AR 1:2, it is working well for the trustees, but not so well for the faculty, staff and students at UK. I believe that both of these patterns should be changed as soon as possible.
Is this the end of the story? It should not be. Recall the UK mantra: Dream, Challenge, Succeed. Well, I have a dream that the UK community will challenge the UK Board of Trustees and succeed in being heard. We must call for an expedited process to address the Board of Trustees in a timely manner on topics that are important for the UK community. As it stands, the president and trustees have walled themselves off from all of us. If we acquiesce to the situation we find ourselves in today with a dearth of student, faculty and staff governance in the operations of this university, those students, faculty and staff who follow us also will never know the freedom to express themselves in matters of substance to this university and to the citizens of Kentucky.
Having just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I see an analogous situation. I look forward to the day when we can all take pride in the words: Ich bin ein Wildcat.
Please join me in saying “President Todd, tear down this wall!“
Joe Peek is a UK finance professor. E-mail opinions@kykernel.com.
Joe Peek is my hero! “President Todd, tear down this wall!“
As a former Soviet dissident, I find Joe Peek’s use of the Berlin Wall metaphor incredibly moving. Not just because I, with millions of others, actually tore into pieces of the Iron Curtain that the Berlin Wall so saliently represented, but because Prof. Peek’s metaphor fits the UK situation so well.
Try to breach the wall alone, and you’ll be shut down. Only the people of the system, the politically connected, are allowed to cross. Which wall did I describe just now – the Berlin or the UK one?
Following UK’s prohibitive rules, and having gone through the prescribed channels, my wife and I tried to get access to the UK Board to show waste, fraud and abuse at our own University. Nothing but denial and stonewalling ensued.
And that lack of access is a great misfortune for the entire university community, as well as all Kentucky taxpayers. Being a corruption researcher, I know all too well that it is not merely the shortage of transparency that creates the witches brew where all sorts of uglies breed. It is also the intransigent prevention of input and access to the decision-makers (and thus the decision-making process) from anyone who is not anointed by the door-keeper.
From my own experience, I know that the surest way to tear down the access walls erected for the benefit of the privileged is for the people to come from their individual scared corners in a show of solidarity and determination. And although the apathy, and even fear, among the UK community seems as palpable as among those browbeaten East Europeans who lived behind the Iron Curtain, the Berlin precedent exists and repeats in place after place.
Hence, I hope that every true Wildcat will join Joe Peek in demanding: President Todd, tear down this wall! Tear down this wall!
Way to go Joe,
Wow, this article is great and I agree that the use of the Berlin wall metaphor was perfect. Great job!!