P.S. Why did the university find it necessary to go outside to find a new president? Was there not a single academic worthy of promotion on its whole staff?
Dianne Harrison is the new president of California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It’s a
small college in the Golden State but it sure is loaded with diversity. How do I know? Because
Dianne has written a letter to the entire university, telling everyone how diverse they are and,
more importantly, what a great person she is because she loves diversity. In her short email of
around 800 words she refers to diversity no less than 17 times (and I have highlighted them
in bold letters). Because it is so dripping with Orwellian double-speak, I thought it would be fun to reproduce...
1. Most universities do not want to promote from within. They are already getting the benefits of the internal candidate and they won't get much more from promoting him.
2. The outside candidate comes in shiny and new, and has more scope for action.
3-n. Usual list of BS arguments, but the university is very sensitive to charges of insider dealmaking by admins.
If you are an academic admin and you want to rise, you should constantly be looking outside your current institution for your next position.