THE RESIGNATION OF JAMIE KLINE
On Friday, April 26, Admissions counselor Jamie Kline officially handed in his resignation, stating that he could no longer work at Goddard under the guidelines introduced by Miller and Cook, which he believes give misleading information about the school to prospective students. This news was met with sadness, tempered by a feeling of inevitability, by the community.
Over the past four to five weeks, Jamie has been a quiet protester against the move toward the commercialization of Goddard, and, more specifically, against the actions taken by the Miller and Cook consultants in conjunction with President Richard Greene. He has also been a welcome voice from the interior of the Admissions department, helping to spell out exactly what the consequences of Dick Greene's admission strategies are. Needless to say, Jamie felt that he could no longer work in an environment that intended to sell the college to young people all over the country under false pretenses, hoping to generate greater revenue in the upcoming years. However, Jamie still plans to volunteer his time to assist the employees of the college. In essence, it is not -the college he is leaving, merely his position in the Admissions office.
When asked for a brief statement, Jamie had this to say:
"...I'm leaving my position in the Admissions office, I'm not leaving the college. I'm leaving for a number of reasons: I've been feeling pretty angry about the disruption in the office, the drastic changes in job expectation, and likewise, I have very little confidence that the college is being led in a manner which demonstrates an understanding the college's mission or the spirit, or, for that matter, common sense, and it really undermines the fabric that makes Goddard unique.
But, what I think it really came down to was that I realized I was working in an environment in which I felt as though myself and my co-workers were being treated with disrespect. And it struck me that I went to Goddard so that I wouldn't someday end up working in an office in which the employees were treated like cogs in a machine, and ironically, I found myself working in that office.
Something that really struck me was the pro-democracy rally, that was the day before I made the decision, and it made that decision a lot more difficult, because it reminded me that Goddard is not the administration; Goddard is the people that live and work there: the
students, the faculty, the staff, everyone, and not just the administration. And I wanted to support that, and support the community .. ...so what I decided what that I would leave my position in the Admissions office, and still be an active member of the community ....when I
took the job at Goddard, it was not for a paycheck; I wanted to be a part of the community of Goddard ....and the community is not the administration. (In regards to whether or not the college is moving in a negative direction as a whole). I haven't seen any changes yet, so I'll have to reserve that ....To be honest, if we move any further away from the spirit of the college, we're going to lose the one leg we have to stand on.
The only thing I can say that gives Goddard the strength that other colleges can't match, or better, is that it is so student-centered. We offer something that no other college does, and that is a student-centered curriculum. And if we move away from that, which it will, if the faculty is reduced, if the size of the school increases drastically without student services and other things being put in place to meet the changes, so that concerns me.
But I still have faith in the larger community of Goddard; we are fortunate enough to have a faculty made up of people who are not there just for a paycheck, staff who feel the same way, students, who are there because, in some way, they all feel passionate about going someplace that is not your run of the mill college. We hope that that spirit will prevail, but it's being made diffiult... I'm not leaving the college, I'm still going to be there."
We'd like to thank Jamie for all of his help, and his willingness to speak his mind on this college's ongoing problems.
