Stop Awarding the Presidency of Professional Orgs to Senior Big-Name Scholars
The election slates of major professional organizations should not be dominated by senior big-name scholars from elite universities. We should strive to get the most qualified and best choice to lead our organizations.
Kevin Gannon
Educational developer, writer, historian, abolitionist. Wrote: https://t.co/coMr1VoO4L. Will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. He/him
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Let's stop awarding the presidency of major professional orgs to senior big-name scholars at "elite" universities like it's the lifetime achievement award for the local Rotary Club. /1 https://t.co/qQTCqyroub
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
In every historical org I belong to, the election slate is determined by a nominations committee, and I can't remember an occasion where more than one name has been on the ballot for either president or president-elect. Thus these positions are not really chosen by the members./2
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
And no offense to the many good scholars and capable folks who have served in these offices, but there is no guarantee that we get the most qualified/best choice to lead our organizations. One might argue we get good officers in spite of, not because of, the processes in place /3
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
The now-multiple (*deep sigh*) Sweet episodes have shown us, for example, that you have no business being president of a major scholarly org. if it's patently obvious you have no clue how social media (and the internet in general) actually function. /4
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
Also, this point by @KeriLeighMerrit is spot-on. What are we doing here? The current moment demands much more than...this 🙁 /5 https://t.co/k3cznFwYZH
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
What we have is a situation where our professional societies need leaders exactly from the type of institutions/public orgs where the heavy workloads prohibit one from serving in those positions. So we get presidencies passed around between scholars at a small cluster of R-1s. /6
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
Meanwhile, the folks doing the actual work--much of it good, essential, and almost always unacknowledged--get kneecapped by a purportedly smart person who hasn't yet figured out that when he finds himself at the bottom of a ditch, it's time to stop digging./fin
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023 -
Addendum: for the AHA, there are actually two nominees for president-elect. In other orgs. I'm in, that's not always the case. So there is a choice here, albeit a limited one. And I stand by my point regarding lack of institutional diversity, which is what wanted to emphasize.
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) March 8, 2023