Time for Your Interim ''Check-up''

Rawlings Part Deux in need of a physical.

By: Linna Chen on November 4th, 2005 at 4:31 PM

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One would think that after having eight years of experience serving as President of Cornell University, Interim President Hunter Rawlings III would have some sort of sense as to what exactly a State of the University address is. As evidenced by this year’s speech, he clearly hasn’t a clue.

To begin, the Oxford English Dictionary defines “state” as “the quality of a person’s or thing’s characteristics or circumstances.” Using this definition, it is logical to infer that the State of the University Address would pertain to the quality of the university’s characteristics or circumstances. Wrong.

In over nine pages of his speech, Rawlings neglected to mention what exactly the state of this University is or where he sees the future for Cornell heading. Sure, it got you on the front page of The New York Times, and even our very own Cornell Daily Sun, but Interim President Rawlings, would it really pain you that much to spare some personal glory for some actual information on the State of the University? Because I, as a student, someone who pays an arm and a leg for tuition and pays part of your salary, would really like to know the condition and direction of Cornell.

Nonetheless, the State of the University is of no matter to Interim President Rawlings when compared to the hot issue of intelligent design. Instead of delivering a speech pertaining to important university concerns, he chose intelligent design as the focus of his State of University Address because it clearly is so relevant to Cornell.

Intelligent design, first of all, is a controversial issue only in the public school system, particularly the primary and secondary levels. Educators in public grammar schools and high schools are restricted by county boards as to what their curriculums should be. However, here at Cornell, since professors are allowed to express their political views widely in class in addition to swearing and tearing up copies of campus newspapers, then clearly they have a lot of leeway in their ability to influence and even indoctrinate their students in whatever program of study they choose.

With no evidence to bolster his argument, Rawlings stated that intelligent design is “a matter of great significance to Cornell,” but went no further in developing his position. Okay. So he believes it’s of great significance. Great, and this matters to me as a member of the Cornell community how? Oh that’s right, it doesn’t.

How about increasing our endowment to something even comparable to those of Yale and Harvard? How about addressing the fact that we have no real president? Nope. Nothing. Not even in the ballpark.

Yes, I agree with Rawlings that “universities like Cornell can make a valuable contribution to the nation’s cultural and intellectual discourse,” but is the State of University Address really the correct and most appropriate platform to be addressing your personal views on the issue?

Great irony lies in the fact that Interim President Rawlings guest lectured my American Political Philosophy class that same day and proceeded to dissect Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and explicate what made them amazing, incredible, and memorable. Apparently, while Rawlings and Honest Abe may share the title of “president,” they certainly don’t share the Emancipator’s mastery over public discourse. Perhaps the qualifications of the next President of the University will have to include proficient writing skills. If you have not read Interim President Rawlings’ address, spare yourself and let me sum it up for you in a few words: “Intelligent design sucks! Go science!” Sadly, that is all our Interim President has to say about the state of Cornell. Thanks for nothing.

 

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