A little bit of peace during the pandemic.

Southern Bubba, Ph.D. submits a thought.

I think the best supervisors I ever had were able to feel--and express--regret and remorse.  This scene from one of my favorite movies reminded me of this when I watched it again recently.  And I wondered how such a scene would have played out in this COVID19 pandemic environment in which so many people are not allowed to reach out and physically touch each other.

It reminded me, too, of a casual (but earnest) conversation I had last year with an older colleague to whom I am somewhat endeared.  We were exchanging thoughts and questions.  "Did you ever shout at any subordinates in front of their coworkers?" "Did you apologize to them later?"  "Did you apologize in front of their coworkers?"  And so on.

Colleges can have some smart people, no doubt.  But they can also have so many heartless bastards.  Real assholes.  People who are not merely immature or "flawed," but people who have the more devastating cluster-B personality disorders.  Or just plane "evil," to use the vernacular that so many of us have used a few times.

It's humbling.  I look back.  There are some things I wish I'd done differently.

--Southern Bubba, Ph.D.

Demise or Reinvention?

Can Colleges Survive Coronavirus? 'The Math Is Not Pretty' [NPR]

15 Fall Scenarios [insidehighered.com]

The Big Question for Colleges: Will There Be a Fall Semester on Campus? [WSJ]

9 ways coronavirus could reshape American higher education [The Week]

Colleges Mobilize to Combat the Coronavirus Crisis [Chronicle]

Boston College professors, staff, and alumni open homes to displaced students [Boston Globe]

The flava:
After Boston College president William Leahy announced earlier this month that the school would be closing, students suddenly faced uncertainty and anxiety.

But dozens of BC faculty, staff, and alumni have stepped in to offer displaced students an array of services — and even opening their homes to some who had nowhere to go. The services also included storage, financial support, food, language services, and transportation.

The article:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/26/metro/boston-college-professors-staff-alumni-open-homes-displaced-students/