I just read Barry Allen’s column on Duke President Richard Brodhead. It is supposed to be supportive but Allen pretty much says that what he likes about Brodhead is that he’s a wimp. He doesn’t use that word but he comes close. He praises Brodhead’s “disarming modesty” and notes that students call him a “bashful poet.” Bashful? Modest? Call me crazy but does this sound like a strong executive?
I have criticized Brodhead repeatedly for being bulldozed by the leftist agenda-pushing professors at Duke, for throwing the lacrosse players under the bus before anyone knew any facts or details and for, well, being a wimp. Allen’s column of “praise” confirmed all that for me today.
Unfortunately, bashful and modest men are the new standard for the left, especially in academe. God forbid that a university president would actually exhibit any manly traits, such as decisiveness, an ability to condemn bad behavior by irresponsible professors, or a willingness to admit that much of the new-age curricula are a waste to students’ time and money. Harvard showed what happens when a college president acts like a man. They fire him and hire a feminist.
Duke apparently believes that if you can’t have a feminist then Brodhead will do.
