Monday, February 8, 2016

Geneva's new president, just like the previous ones.

According to Geneva College's website, Dr. Calvin Troup has been elected to be the next President. http://www.geneva.edu/about-geneva/president/

Consider the backgrounds of the last few Presidents:

Dr. Ken Smith, public university department chair
Dr. John White, Geneva department chair
Dr. Joseph McFarland, Director of Academic Affairs for Kansas Board of Regents
Dr. Donald Felker, public university department chair

Although most presidents suffer from the same issues, one stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of his accomplishments. Yup, the one who was an administrator and not an academic department chair.

I'm not sure how someone who "leads" an academic department gets to be considered a leader, but I guess in a denomination that doesn't know leadership from autocracy, it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't take that much to be considered one.

So, if you're a Geneva employee, the story won't change. The leadership will talk about how wonderful you are and how much you exemplify Christian character, but behind closed doors: in the Trustee meetings and in one-on-one conversations, you're a money-grubbing moron.

If you're a Geneva student, same thing. The college LOVES LOVES LOVES you, but unfortunately, they don't have enough money to provide basic maintenance to your dorm room, despite charging 3x going rent rates. If you mess up there will be no mercy (from the administration, not the faculty, mind you). If you complain, you will get a sob story about how tight finances are, while you see thousands blown on the administration's pet projects. Oh yeah, and when you're a senior, prepare yourself for the lecture about how you need to "pay it forward" because of how well you were treated.

Stephen Covey's "The Speed of Trust" has some pretty wise words. If you as a manager really are a soulless jerk, at least be honest about it. Your employees probably already know you are and you're already paying that trust penalty!

The RP church is all about manufacturing soulless jerk leadership.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You sound like a bitter woman, Kathy.

BatteredRPSheep said...

Spoken like a true blood RP. First of all, keep guessing, you have probably a 1 in 10,000 chance of guessing the right person.

Also, it's interesting that, while bitterness is the unforgivable sin of the RP church, God chooses to work through that bitterness. Consider Naomi. She moves back to Israel a bitter and broken woman, and yet God pushes through that bitterness to bring redemption to her, and ultimately brings blessing and redemption to all of Israel. Also, the Shunammite woman is called bitter, just before Elisha raises her son from the dead.

So, you see that simply calling someone bitter as if it's the ultimate insult and debate winner, despite being a common RP practice, does not align with the work of God. Are you on God's team, or are you just a tool of the RP church?