(I say all this as a prof at a public regional which became virtually ungovernable when only *a slight majority* of faculty supported a no-confidence motion in our provost a few years ago. I cannot fathom the operational effects of admins ignoring a nearly unanimous faculty vote!)

If this were just one school, admins could be replaced (i.e., “fail upward”) and everyone could reset. But this is now a multi-year, sector-wide phenomenon w/ no obvious release valves. It's unlikely that things can carry on w/o pretty fundamental changes in the terms of the faculty/admin relation.

and (c) the performance of an enormous amount of voluntary labor (“service”). Antagonize (or really, embarrass) the tenured faculty in as total and shameless a manner as this, they begin to withdraw their consent, and the whole structure suddenly becomes very shaky.

Universities run on a lot of things, but an essential ingredient is the tacit consent of tenured faculties. This takes the form of (a) general support for the two-tiered (tenure-track vs. non-TT) employment structure, (b) acquiescence to the administrative schemes/excesses/scandals du jour,

There’s always bitcoin!

Great leaders we have.

(Of course, Schumer has blessed the whole rotten deal. But if he’s too cowardly to own it, then he’s too weak to lead.)