LongAgoPlebe
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2010
- Messages
- 493
USNA professor of English Bruce Fleming is back in the news.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...ing-naval-academy-lawsuit-20151105-story.html
I know there's little love lost for the man on these forums, but my own opinion is a bit more...complicated. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had Prof. Fleming as an instructor during my plebe year. He was my favorite professor that year, and when I think about the 3 or 4 professors most responsible for shaping me as a young person during my undergraduate years, he's on that list too.
And, while I do not agree with his frequent claim that we should abolish the service academies, the fundamental question he seems to be trying to communicate - often poorly, often provocatively - is, what is it that distinguishes USxA graduates and officers from ROTC and OCS? This (IMHO) absolutely is a question worth wrestling with and arguing about (in the best sense of the word, using evidence and facts). The fact is that there are many procedures and processes the academies undertake that are completely opaque. One of those processes - Admissions - is arguably a main reason why these forums exist.
I'm also an academic myself now. I surely can't describe the specific acrimony between Dr. Fleming and the USNA admin. If pressed to be honest, I doubt either party could identify how it started and how it seemed to spiral out of control. But I've also seen really good colleagues make missteps, then be run over by heavy-handed and brutish department chairs, deanlets, provosts and chancellors (that is, far out of proportion to any misstep). Which is all to say that I am sure there is more to the story than merely pigeon-holing Dr. Fleming as a curmudgeon, a malcontent, a rabble-rouser.
Still, I can't help thinking that if I were able to meet and talk with him now, I'd be disappointed.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...ing-naval-academy-lawsuit-20151105-story.html
I know there's little love lost for the man on these forums, but my own opinion is a bit more...complicated. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had Prof. Fleming as an instructor during my plebe year. He was my favorite professor that year, and when I think about the 3 or 4 professors most responsible for shaping me as a young person during my undergraduate years, he's on that list too.
And, while I do not agree with his frequent claim that we should abolish the service academies, the fundamental question he seems to be trying to communicate - often poorly, often provocatively - is, what is it that distinguishes USxA graduates and officers from ROTC and OCS? This (IMHO) absolutely is a question worth wrestling with and arguing about (in the best sense of the word, using evidence and facts). The fact is that there are many procedures and processes the academies undertake that are completely opaque. One of those processes - Admissions - is arguably a main reason why these forums exist.
I'm also an academic myself now. I surely can't describe the specific acrimony between Dr. Fleming and the USNA admin. If pressed to be honest, I doubt either party could identify how it started and how it seemed to spiral out of control. But I've also seen really good colleagues make missteps, then be run over by heavy-handed and brutish department chairs, deanlets, provosts and chancellors (that is, far out of proportion to any misstep). Which is all to say that I am sure there is more to the story than merely pigeon-holing Dr. Fleming as a curmudgeon, a malcontent, a rabble-rouser.
Still, I can't help thinking that if I were able to meet and talk with him now, I'd be disappointed.
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