Farewell to a Valued Colleague

David,

Thank you for your message. I have also thought about you this year. My interviews with you played a significant role in my decision to come to Rose-Hulman, and you proved to be an extraordinary friend and colleague. I will always value the six years that I had at Rose and the many lives that I had the opportunity to influence positively.

Unfortunately, I was a bit naïve about academia when I started, but at the same time firmly convinced that I was not, and as such I didn't play the game as well as I could have. In the final analysis, though, I have almost no regrets whatsoever. I have come to realize that my priorities are in fact not perfectly aligned with a substantial fraction of the students. Like you, I am an idealist and believe that a college education should mean more than passing courses, getting a degree, and finding a good first job. Being products of their environment, many (Rose) students don't share our idealistic perspective, and as such my lack of emphasis on prompt grading was unacceptable to them. My remorse is for the state of higher education in America, not for the fact that I didn't get tenure.

I said that I had almost no regrets. I do regret that I didn't realize sooner that my tenure denial was inevitable. If I had, I would have ignored the "feedback" from Art that led me to resign my position as the Pike Chapter Advisor a year and a half earlier than I had to. That's a purely selfish consideration, because the chapter has had excellent leadership since I resigned, and by many criteria it is in the best condition it has ever been.

All of this is heartfelt, although perhaps a bit melodramatic. Our paths will cross again.

Peace and blessings,

Larry