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| Mary Holz Clause |
The nature of this winter has gotten yours truly to do more writing or journalism than I would normally prefer. I'd prefer these days to get out for a cotton-pickin' walk now and then. Here I sit at the breakfast table on this bleak Thursday morning, cold as hell, and without a doubt I do have something to write about.
Are we just learning this? About the Morris and Crookston U campuses having a shared chancellor? That the "executive chancellor" is based at Crookston? And that our own chancellor is "interim" here? The "executive" term came at me yesterday from someone who asked that I not quote him. He said that he couldn't be completely sure of his information.
My response to that is that UMM advocates should not be fumbling around sharing rumors. While the exact facts appear to be fodder for hearsay, there is a legitimate basis for wanting all this to be clarified. It's no secret now that "something is going on." UMM just happens to be very important to our overall welfare in our community of Morris. If we're sharing a chancellor with the Crookston campus, and if the Crookston person is "executive," well maybe this should be known in an official way.
Yesterday it was all over North Dakota media that a finalist for the NDSU presidency was the Crookston-Morris person. It was reported quite clearly that way. And I sat here feeling puzzled. I couldn't just sit here, I had to get my journalistic instincts cranked up. So now it's Thursday morning with temperature outside sinking yet again, and I'm wondering if the collective morale of UMM advocates should be sinking also.
Our institution is being run by a Crookston-based person? With "executive" (reportedly) in her title? Could Marshall of our local radio station get to work on this? He's our only hope IMHO from the local corporate media. The newspaper is too busy doing things like taking a picture of the local Girl Scouts promoting their cookie sale, for the front page of course. We need to read about all the local kids being above average all the time, as in Lake Wobegon.
Reed Anfinson writes about how the newspaper should be a watchdog on government. He makes the argument in theory, but I don't see his Morris newspaper reflecting that in practice. The softball complex project has been begging for some hard questions to be asked. It's nothing personal re. anyone, it's just that the questions need to be asked. Reed should understand that more than anyone. He knows we shouldn't take personally the recent eye-popping AP article that focused on Benson, or how he knows where he has his gun handy.
Morris and Crookston are separated by a pretty wide distance. Collaborative? It's always a nice thing to a point. But common sense should tell us that if Morris and Crookston are jointly overseen by an "executive" chancellor and that the Morris chancellor is merely "interim," well then maybe the specific Morris interests are not going to be served as well. I'm sure the Crookston person has given speeches about the importance of her institution (in Crookston) and of Crookston as a community. I hardly know anything about Crookston and its campus. A friend emailed me last night.
I googled Mary Holz Clause’s bio, she’s just listed as the chancellor at UMC, no mention of Morris. Peculiar mistake.
Academic people are normally very precise about these things. They are notably title-conscious. So what's up? Something is up, do not suggest to me otherwise, Grasshopper.
I do not see how this can be encouraging for Morris. Already we have had apprehension built up over the last few years about how liberal arts is getting cut in places. The liberal arts have been our "raison d'etre." Remember to spell it "raison" and not "raisin."
People come here and gush about how absolutely wonderful the liberal arts are, like we are so truly special. Obviously the liberal arts are a wonderful thing. The question is whether an institution can plant its stakes with that, get money for furthering it. To put it gently, wouldn't you think the task is daunting now?
Radio airwaves
The whole Crookston/Morris thing was made known to me yesterday from KFGO Radio. From there I got further confirmation from websites and word of mouth (or email), the latter not bearing as much of an official imprimatur. Maye we could get some clarification from the Twin Cities campus, perhaps from Mr. Joan Gabel herself.
If we're being run out of Crookston, it is relevant information for our lives here in Morris, a place that UMM likes to describe as "in the middle of somewhere." We all know what that really means. Ahem, we're really out where it's rather barren. If it's really "somewhere," we couldn't need a slogan.
Speaking of Lake Wobegon, we have had Garrison Keillor out here more than once. I covered his visit once for the Morris newspaper, a visit in which the UMM choir performed my father's composition "UMM Hymn." My father's music helped lift up UMM's profile considerably in the heady early days of the institution. At present we're left wondering how much of a foundation remains, if we're being run out of Crookston.
C'mon, Marshall at kmrs-kkok, get going with some revelatory reports. Don't leave it up to me. I was written off as washed-up 16 years ago.
My late father Ralph's composition of "Alleluia" was put on YouTube just recently. I had nothing to do with this. The recording is of the 1971 Oregon All-State choir. From coast to coast, my father's music is shared with audiences to this day. A taste of immortality.
Ralph E. Williams RIP. Here's the link for "Alleluia":
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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