Category Archives: Serendipity

I often ask students riding on our elevators, “Why did you pick Harold Washington College?” Our downtown location and convenience top the list. An increasing number say that our business programs are of interest to them. Some like our faculty; others say they wanted to come to a diverse school. Word-of-mouth counts for a lot.Continue reading “Enrollment”

Things have been quiet here lately – not only at the schools, since we are on break, but also on Don’s Desk and on the Harold Lounge. My excuse is managing two schools has finally overwhelmed me during budget season. I am working on a post once the budget is made public, but for nowContinue reading “The Sounds of Silence”

Not sure when I am coming back to Chicago . . . .

It is raining and I am stuck at home on this Saturday morning waiting for UPS to deliver my new Visa card sent to replace the one Amazon informed me has been stolen and used to purchase unspecified items sent to unknown addresses. This, following the discovery that I gifted my Kindle Paperwhite by leavingContinue reading “Seminar”

I was working on an ironic post about the liberal arts, prompted by the recent exchanges between Kojo and the Lounge, when I read “How to Live Without Irony” in today’s The New York Times. My hobby as an ironist was launched by Professor Wayne Booth’s “Rhetoric” class. We read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and Professor Booth askedContinue reading “Irony”

With registration over, I finally had time to put a dent in my 600+ item RSS feed. I hit a Lifehacker trifecta. (Lifehacker is a web site that provides “Tips, tricks, and downloads for getting things done.” The founding editor is Gina Trapani, whose personal mission is to “build apps that try to change theContinue reading “Light Reading”

I recently had the good fortune to attend a seminar for new presidents. The presidents came from a diverse set of institutions across the country. The discussions with fellow presidents enlightened and encouraged me. Presidents shared many funny or challenging stories of their early days at their institutions. The entire time I listened, I keptContinue reading “Transparency and Discretion”

I have struggled recently with the value of fiction. In conversations with friends, we note that as we age, non-fiction appeals to us more. Non-fiction is pragmatic. It wrestles with real-world problems. It informs our daily lives with facts and guidance and useful stuff. Biographies of people who have lived lives that mattered hold particularContinue reading “To Be Mad”

My Sunday reading uncovered this little gem from the Taipei Times. It seems that academic freedom may have a shorter leash in Taipei. I also wonder if Professor Wu wasn’t set up – Professor Geaun managed to produce a recorded copy of their conversation as evidence for his allegations. Professor handed 10 days in jailContinue reading “Professor Wars”