From Rachel Toor
As soon as the caller identified herself as a first-year student working for the alumni fund at my alma mater, I stopped her and said, “I’m not going to give you any money.”
She was gracious and laughed. Then I asked how things were on campus and about her president, who is, like the student, in her freshman year.
“We don’t know what she’s doing. We haven’t heard much from her. She’s not really around.”
You can probably imagine, if you’ve been reading this newsletter, how the rest of our conversation went. I take every chance I get to do a little, um, teaching.
College and university presidents and chancellors are in fact busier than ever these days doing the good, hard work of providing for their communities and trying to bring calm amid the deafening chaos, even if students (and some faculty and staff) aren’t paying close attention.
Still, a doughnut-box’s worth of leaders were willing to take a few minutes to share their thoughts about calls for them to shout out or, you know, do something.
When I remarked to a presidential pal that March Madness had a different meaning this year, he reminded me that April is the cruellest month. Hang in there, friends. Reach out if there are ways we can help.