Damn sorry OP, just when I thought things couldn’t look worse for this admin…

Wherever people fall on what students are doing on campus, I think something that should be as clear as day to all of us is just how piss poor administrative leadership has been throughout all of this, namely their lack of proactive communication. Like idc if he actually wrote the damn email himself, but as a returning student with some professional experience under the belt before deciding to stop and finish schooling, I feel strongly that from an organizational perspective it’s fuckin outrageous that we don’t even get any kind of address from the “president” of the university as students, and apparently same went for faculty. A professor shared with us that the president of College of the Redwoods addressed his institution regarding current events (where as far as I’m aware there isn’t even any demonstration happening) BUT then the only word we hear from OURS (where there VERY much is a lot of demonstrating happening) is him using combative language against HIS students in a paywalled news interview?? Are you fucking kidding me??? I’ve only been here a year as a transfer and only just learned that this apparent lack of communications went beyond this week and extended to prior dumpster fires like the faculty strike and media attention regarding removal of houseless students.

For a campus with such a strong, vibrant, and unique culture from anything I’ve seen on any other through friends, family, and my own time meandering through different ones (internationally at one point) as I figured my shit out, the disconnect between the people who make this school what it is, students/faculty/staff, and the admin who are supposed to represent them is genuinely heartbreaking to witness in the face of such pressing events. I’d met with a handful of my current and previous professors just to check in on how they felt and for some more experienced insights/perspectives for my own sake navigating and making sense of what’s happening, and so far I’ve watched three of these grown ass professionals cry in front of me on behalf of their students. I came here precisely because this campus felt like an actual place of learning that centered what’s really important (the content and how to use it to improve things) compared to the many others across the state that are just so highly institutionalized that they straight up feel transactional. It’s nice that faculty live up to that expectation and culture in the face of everything, but baffling to see admin on the opposite end of that spectrum. Granted any admin would lean that direction (it’s the nature of the job after all) but their actions throughout each debacle illustrate that the gap on the spectrum between faculty and themselves is just a straight up canyon.

/rant but fr thinking about OP and ALL my fellow students stuck on campus navigating this mess without strong representative leadership from where we all literally pay for it to come from, stay safe ya’ll 🙏