Author: Ryan Strong
Last Thursday, President Jonathan Veitch walked into a faculty meeting and delivered an emotional plea for reconciliation, civil
discourse and “expression of affection for people” following last year’s fiery sexual assault debate, according to The Los Angeles Times. In part he said that “the controversy has taken a toll ‘on my health and my soul,’” according to the Times.
In some respects, he is right. Civil discourse, reconciliation and expressions of affection for people are preferable to another year of tension. But the problem is that the college hasn’t yet proven it can listen and actually change without folks applying immense pressure on it – and there is plenty more change that needs to be done.
Veitch could have proven he was willing to change and reconcile over the summer by rebuilding a completely dysfunctional Student Affairs Division from the ground up. Instead, he chose to be in denial about some of the terrible attitudes and performances within his administration. Students looking forward to change this year were greeted by the same old and tired story of administrators who too often just don’t seem to care about students (or express affection for them in Veitch’s terms).
He still doesn’t seem to understand that there were (and still are) some very fundamental underlying problems within his administration that caused last year’s debate to occur in the way it did, instead choosing to pin it all on the tactics of students and faculty. Veitch wants faculty and students to be accountable for their discourse, but he hasn’t done nearly enough to hold his own team accountable for its discourse (or its actions).
The fact that this issue has taken a toll on Veitch is not surprising. It has taken a toll on just about everybody in the community. Like others, he cares about the college and community and that must be recognized.
But Veitch and his team get plenty of compensation to deal with just these types of tough situations. He and his top cabinet members aren’t supposed to have cushy, comfortable jobs devoid of any sense of accountability. Their jobs are supposed to be taxing, and they are supposed to solve problems.
If they can solve them while the community reconciles and shares wonderful expressions of love and affection for one another, then that would be phenomenal. It might even be necessary. But pleading for that outcome is not being a leader; Veitch needs to earn it. He needs to demand more out of his own team before lecturing others; more respect and appreciation for students and faculty, more functionality and more accountability. Finally, he needs to stop arguing against change.
Veitch argued against change in this week’s article on the faculty meeting when he expressed his concerns about having a verbal consent requirement (he also stated a reason to favor the policy, but he clearly has serious concerns about it).
“The con is that most sexual relationships don’t operate that way, so you would have a vast number of people who are out of compliance. You’re trying to change a culture,” Veitch said.
That statement is the ultimate head scratcher. The whole point is to change the culture and the policy would help do just that, so why does that put it on the con side again?
Based on the stated concerns about the number of future perpetrators who would choose not to follow the rules, the administration is still apparently preoccupied with the idea of trying to artificially limit the sexual assault cases they have to deal with rather than doing everything possible to prevent sexual assault (a point that has been at the heart of the criticism that it has supposedly been listening to and learning from).
The way to stop dealing with sexual assault cases is to prevent and deter sexual assault from happening in the long-term through clear and strong policy, not shape a policy that is so weak that it keeps people from reporting, further exacerbating the problem.
Clearly, there is more work to do. Veitch needs to lead that effort and if he wants support, he needs to earn it rather than plead for it. He needs to realize that reconciliation starts with how he and his administration interacts with, listens to and treats students and faculty this year. If he leads well, students and faculty will surely follow.
Ryan Strong is a senior politics major. He can be reached at rstrong@oxy.edu or on Twitter at @WklyRStrong.
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