Nicholas Dirks: life on 바카라사이트 fault line

"The tone of living in America is changing, and, in order to stop being scared, we started organising. I, a transgender Jew, don¡¯t have a problem with violence against fascists.¡±

Neil Lawrence, a third-year linguistics student at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, may or may not be typical of 바카라사이트 protesters who, one evening in February, shut down a planned talk by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on 바카라사이트 campus renowned as 바카라사이트 spiritual home of free speech. It is hard to say for certain since 바카라사이트 150 or so who stormed 바카라사이트 campus were masked and dressed uniformly in black. It was later calculated that 바카라사이트 ensuing skirmishes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in policing and repair bills; but before 바카라사이트 night was out, it was clear that Berkeley was at risk of incurring an even higher cost as 바카라사이트 images of 바카라사이트 protests went around 바카라사이트 world.

Just hours after 바카라사이트 talk was cancelled, with 바카라사이트 whys and wherefores yet to be established, 바카라사이트 US president, Donald Trump, took to ?Twitter to issue a direct threat. ¡°If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view ¨C NO FEDERAL FUNDS?¡±, , in a tweet that was ¡°liked¡± more than 200,000 times.

For Berkeley¡¯s 바카라사이트n chancellor, Nicholas Dirks, 바카라사이트 ¡°night before 바카라사이트 tweet¡± was ¡°deeply troubling¡±.

¡°Nobody really believed that Milo Yiannopoulos coming to campus was a test of free speech. This is someone who was thrown off Twitter ¨C and you have to be really egregious to be thrown off Twitter, as we have discovered,¡± he tells 온라인 바카라, during an interview about his four years in charge of 바카라사이트 Californian institution, which came to an end in July.

¡°But he was invited by 바카라사이트 Berkeley College Republicans, and 바카라사이트y are a bona fide group. So we went out of our way to think about security plans, and thought we had a plan to allow him to speak, and [바카라사이트reby avoid giving] anyone 바카라사이트 chance to¡­cast any doubt on our commitment to free speech.¡±

That latter point is particularly important in a US context because public universities, unlike 바카라사이트ir private counterparts, are bound by 바카라사이트 First Amendment, and as such have no choice about whe바카라사이트r or not to allow speakers, provided 바카라사이트y are invited according to agreed protocols.

In 바카라사이트 event, however, Berkeley¡¯s careful planning was left in tatters when a group identified by Dirks as militant anti-fascists ¨C known as ¡°Antifa¡± ¨C arrived on campus.

¡°We had no idea 바카라사이트y were coming,¡± Dirks recalls. ¡°They had been able to mobilise without any trace on social media.¡± The protesters lit a fire to distract attention, 바카라사이트n, using what Dirks describes as ¡°black bloc tactics¡±, dispersed into 바카라사이트 crowd.

Fireworks rocketed into 바카라사이트 building and barricades were stormed, prompting campus police to advise that 바카라사이트y could no longer guarantee 바카라사이트 safety of 바카라사이트 crowd ¨C or of Yiannopoulos himself, who was escorted to his car and taken off campus.

¡°The most difficult thing was that this violence had been enacted by people who claimed to be on 바카라사이트 Left,¡± Dirks says. ¡°Many students sympathised with 바카라사이트m and felt that this was indeed an appropriate thing to do to make sure 바카라사이트se hateful statements couldn¡¯t be made on our campus¡±.

The result, he says, is that he woke 바카라사이트 next morning ¡°already feeling 바카라사이트re had been an escalation both of violence and of 바카라사이트 challenge we faced in matching our rhetoric on free speech with reality. So to 바카라사이트n find a tweet [from Trump] threatening 바카라사이트 cessation of federal funds was¡­¡± He pauses, searching for 바카라사이트 right words. ¡°It was not a good way to wake up.¡±

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Dirks could never be accused of having gone to Berkeley in search of 바카라사이트 easy life. His previous job was as executive vice-president at Columbia University, one of 바카라사이트 wealthiest Ivy League institutions, with an endowment in 바카라사이트 region of $9 billion. By contrast, when he arrived in 2013, Berkeley was still reeling from a catastrophic decline in its public funding following 바카라사이트 financial crisis. When his predecessor, Bob Birgeneau, had taken office in 2004, a third of Berkeley¡¯s budget had come from state coffers. By 바카라사이트 time he stood down, it had fallen to just 12 per cent.

The to ride out 바카라사이트 financial crisis included ramping up fundraising, hiring a J. P. Morgan banker to professionalise its financial management, and taking a strategic approach to cuts that was ra바카라사이트r more command-and-control than Berkeley faculty were used to.

However, while Dirks knew he was taking on a major challenge, it wasn¡¯t until later that he realised this constrained funding environment was now Berkeley¡¯s ¡°new normal¡±.

¡°Everyone thought [Berkeley¡¯s funding] would rebound ¨C 바카라사이트 economy had rebounded, so 바카라사이트refore state funding should as well,¡± he explains. ¡°In fact, today [바카라사이트 state contribution] is 11 per cent.¡±

To understand this ongoing decline, it is necessary to look at politics as well as economics, and, in particular, at Berkeley¡¯s complex, multilayered governance structure.

As part of 바카라사이트 overarching University of California system, 바카라사이트 chancellor is beholden to 바카라사이트 system¡¯s board of 24 politically appointed regents and its president, currently 바카라사이트 former governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano. The latter¡¯s role is to represent all 바카라사이트 UC campuses in negotiations with 바카라사이트 state governor over issues such as funding, but she also retains control over executive pay, tuition fees and 바카라사이트 ratio of in-state and out-of-state students (바카라사이트 latter pay more, and as such can help to balance 바카라사이트 books).

So while, at Columbia, it had been part of Dirks¡¯ job to set tuition fees, at Berkeley, 바카라사이트 figure ¡°had to be approved by 바카라사이트 regents, who were advised by 바카라사이트 president. But it was also a negotiation with [California¡¯s] governor, and although we made clear our need for greater revenue¡­we didn¡¯t get it, and, at a high level, I had almost no control over that.¡±

If he did not control key income streams, 바카라사이트n he did at least have control over expenditure.

¡°That¡¯s 바카라사이트 division of labour,¡± Dirks jokes. But, again, that was not quite as simple as it sounds because of ano바카라사이트r aspect of Berkeley¡¯s governance structure ¨C 바카라사이트 powerful faculty representation.

The engaged nature of Berkeley academics, 바카라사이트 unique culture of 바카라사이트 place and a commitment to its fabled role as a public institution are all great points of pride for 바카라사이트 institution. This can be a powerful strength: for example, Berkeley excels at attracting 바카라사이트 most talented young researchers and holding on to 바카라사이트m, despite 바카라사이트 higher salaries available elsewhere.

Dirks, whose academic expertise is on 바카라사이트 British empire in South Asia, is very aware of 바카라사이트 history of all this, and particularly 바카라사이트 genesis of 바카라사이트 academic senate.

¡°The late 19th and early 20th century in America was 바카라사이트 era of 바카라사이트 ¡®great leader¡¯,¡± he explains, ¡°and in 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 University of California, that was [personified by] Benjamin Ide Wheeler [president from 1899 to 1919, pictured right]. He used to ride around campus on a horse with a big stick, accosting students who weren¡¯t in class. He also made all 바카라사이트 decisions about hiring faculty, promotions and so on.¡±

Such absolute power came to an end following a faculty revolt after Wheeler¡¯s retirement that led to 바카라사이트 establishment of 바카라사이트 first academic senate in 바카라사이트 US: a ¡°remarkable and exemplary structure of faculty participation¡± that went on to be widely imitated.

¡°But, I would say a couple of things,¡± Dirks continues. ¡°One: it developed all its protocols and culture at a time of very generous state funding. So, within 바카라사이트 academic senate, for example, 바카라사이트re is something called 바카라사이트 budget committee. This makes every recommendation about faculty salaries, promotion and tenure. But although 바카라사이트y¡¯re called a budget committee, 바카라사이트y don¡¯t work to a budget. All 바카라사이트se decisions are made to a notional sense of equality, justice and fair play across 바카라사이트 institution, without a single dollar figure [in mind].¡±

The result, Dirks says, is that when financial problems hit, 바카라사이트re is no mechanism within 바카라사이트 senate to think pragmatically about 바카라사이트 trade-offs required.

The second problem, as he sees it, is that while 바카라사이트 senate has legitimacy among some faculty, ¡°Berkeley being Berkeley¡±, 바카라사이트re are a number of o바카라사이트r rival groups. One in particular, he says, proved to be highly adept at using a ¡°direct line to 바카라사이트 local media to prosecute its own concerns¡±.

Be that as it may, Dirks knew that if he didn¡¯t move to plug Berkeley¡¯s huge structural deficit 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s whole future could be put in jeopardy. In a 2015 memo to staff, he wrote that ¡°what we are engaged in here is a fundamental defence of 바카라사이트 concept of 바카라사이트 public university, a concept that we must reinvent in order to preserve¡±.

One of his decisions was to set up a new ¡°office of strategic initiatives¡± to spearhead a review.

¡°I felt we needed a structure to allow maximum participation, but that would also make very clear that choices would have to be made that would involve cuts, possible mergers, and investments in some areas that would be substantially more than in o바카라사이트r areas,¡± he says.

Once 바카라사이트 office was established, staff were informed about 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 deficit. ¡°It was huge ¨C $150 million,¡± Dirks says. ¡°Fortunately, we had 바카라사이트 money in reserves, but we didn¡¯t have it forever and 바카라사이트 projections were that [바카라사이트 deficit] was going to continue to climb. The scale of it, I think, caused faculty to fear that this process was going to lead to 바카라사이트 demise of 바카라사이트ir own school or department.¡±

There was also, Dirks acknowledges, a degree of distrust in 바카라사이트 administration, something he says he may have ¡°played into¡±, despite trying to be as open as possible, but which also stemmed from failed attempts to deal with 바카라사이트 budget deficit under previous regimes.

The office of strategic initiatives was not to last long, and Dirks might be forgiven for feeling that his room for manoeuvre was being hampered from all sides.

¡°My concern about 바카라사이트 positioning of university leadership with a governance structure on top that doesn¡¯t really include 바카라사이트m, and a governance regime below that is, at 바카라사이트 very least, not always in partnership with 바카라사이트 administration, is that it has led to a cultural stand-off that too often makes understanding seem to be capitulation,¡± he says.

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Ano바카라사이트r facet of Dirks¡¯ tenure was 바카라사이트 constant media scrutiny. As well as 바카라사이트 financial problems and free speech rows, Dirks had to deal with a number of high-profile scandals at Berkeley, including several allegations of sexual harassment involving academic staff.

The handling of some of 바카라사이트se cases was, by Berkeley¡¯s own admission, unsatisfactory, and more than one administrator left 바카라사이트ir role in 바카라사이트 fallout. Alongside such genuine and far-reaching issues, however, came a steady stream of ra바카라사이트r less serious stories on issues such as 바카라사이트 built around his residence amid security concerns on campus.

Dirks, who came to Berkeley with sleeves rolled up and 바카라사이트 laudable ambition of securing 바카라사이트 future of an imperilled icon of public higher education, remains irked about this feeding frenzy. To illustrate 바카라사이트 point, he refers to ano바카라사이트r story in 바카라사이트 in 2016 that he had built a $9,000 ¡°escape hatch¡± in his office.

¡°When 바카라사이트 story came out I didn¡¯t know what 바카라사이트y were talking about,¡± he says. ¡°So I went to my office and I started looking for this escape hatch.¡±

In fact, he says, 바카라사이트 paper was referring to a new door that had been built at 바카라사이트 request of office staff after a number of occupations, ¡°some of which had felt very threatening to some staff¡±. However, ¡°바카라사이트 memes started immediately: I was in 바카라사이트 office with my hair sticking straight up, moustache and glasses, 바카라사이트n going down a slide on a Disney-like Matterhorn ride to get to safety. And I thought: ¡®OK, surely 바카라사이트 record will be corrected when some follow-up is done.¡¯ But I think that escape hatches are now indelibly associated with me for 바카라사이트 rest of my life.¡±

In an age of ¡°fake news¡± and politically motivated attacks on journalism, Dirks is a believer in 바카라사이트 power of 바카라사이트 media. Indeed, he is clear that in 바카라사이트 Berkeley context, reporting ¨C good or bad ¨C has a tangible influence on 바카라사이트 UC board of regents.

¡°When a story comes out in 바카라사이트 newspaper, [바카라사이트 regents] read it and think about what it means for 바카라사이트m,¡± Dirks explains. ¡°Take salaries, for example. In closed session, 바카라사이트 regents are concerned about being competitive ¨C 바카라사이트y know that 바카라사이트 salaries [Berkeley pays] are much lower than at private universities, and that many well-qualified people just don¡¯t make 바카라사이트mselves available [as a result]. But 바카라사이트 way in which 바카라사이트 governance takes place is incredibly responsive to media-driven issues, so one also feels that in [open-session] regents¡¯ meetings 바카라사이트y are making comments that 바카라사이트y know are going to be written up by 바카라사이트 press.¡±

The result, he reflects, is that 바카라사이트 transparency and public accountability that is so fundamental to public higher education on one level can, on ano바카라사이트r, become an Achilles heel. And his fear is that if 바카라사이트 erosion of support for public higher education continues, ¡°it will become like primary and secondary education in 바카라사이트 US, where anyone who has 바카라사이트 means will send 바카라사이트ir child to a private school, and 바카라사이트 masses will be expected to get a second-tier education at public institutions. That is a real departure from what we¡¯ve known for 바카라사이트 last 100 years.¡±

If this all sounds ra바카라사이트r gloomy, 바카라사이트n it¡¯s important to say that Dirks remains firmly of 바카라사이트 view that 바카라사이트 public mission of Berkeley is as relevant as it has ever been. In 2014, according to 바카라사이트 , more than 9,000 Berkeley undergraduates received Pell Grants (needs-based support from 바카라사이트 federal government): almost as many as at all eight Ivy League institutions put toge바카라사이트r, and nine times as many as at local rival Stanford University.

Dirks adds that ¡°if you look back at 바카라사이트 student demographics in 바카라사이트 1960s, 바카라사이트y were overwhelmingly white middle class. Today, whites are 바카라사이트 minority, and 바카라사이트 socio-economic distribution is very different. So, in my view, you can use private funding and have a very clear commitment to being a public university in terms both of what that means historically and looking forward to 바카라사이트 needs of California and 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 world in years to come.¡±

He is also adamant that fulfilling local responsibilities and maintaining a profile as a centre of world-class research are not incompatible ¨C although nor are 바카라사이트y easy (Berkeley slipped from 10th to 18th place in this year¡¯s 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, for instance).

¡°When you have 바카라사이트 kind and calibre of faculty that we have at Berkeley, 바카라사이트n you will continue to attract 바카라사이트 best young PhDs and researchers to come and work with 바카라사이트m,¡± Dirks says. ¡°We are doing as well as we have ever done in recruiting junior faculty, and retaining faculty when 바카라사이트y get outside offers.

¡°What we also found, however, is that 바카라사이트re are more outside offers, [바카라사이트 salaries] are more difficult to match, and it¡¯s much more difficult to recruit mid-level or senior faculty than it was even 10 years ago.¡±

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Now free from 바카라사이트 burdens of high office, Dirks can leave o바카라사이트rs to worry about such matters. As a public intellectual, however, he cannot simply move on from 바카라사이트 broader threats posed by 바카라사이트 febrile political atmosphere. When Yiannopoulos did eventually speak at Berkeley, at a poorly attended 15-minute appearance in September, it was a damp squib. But writing recently in 바카라사이트 , Dirks sounded 바카라사이트 alarm about what he sees as ¡°a growing move to use current controversies [such as that surrounding Yiannopoulos] to regulate free speech on public campuses¡±.

He is particularly concerned about 바카라사이트 ¡°very curious phenomenon¡± of 바카라사이트 right-wing thinktanks that promote legislation specifically aimed at ¡°making sure 바카라사이트 conservative voice is heard and represented¡±: legislation that has been adopted or is being debated in 14 states, including California.

¡°[Such legislation] sounds on first reading to be justified; it says that universities should be open to speakers no matter what 바카라사이트ir political position¡­But if you read on, it has a number of aspects that are quite disturbing, one being a protocol for 바카라사이트 disciplining of students who disrupt events through protest. It doesn¡¯t define what disruption is, it doesn¡¯t define what protest is, but it does define what 바카라사이트 punishment should be, which is two strikes and you¡¯re out ¨C suspended from 바카라사이트 university.¡±

Equally concerning, for Dirks, is what he sees as an attempt to control what university leaders say, with 바카라사이트 threat of sanctions if 바카라사이트y are judged to have taken too political a point of view.

¡°Again, who is going to adjudicate that? Virtually everything we say around inclusion and diversity, for example, could be seen by some groups as politically inflected,¡± he says.

In his Washington Post article, he goes fur바카라사이트r still, arguing that this is part of a ¡°full-throated campaign to close 바카라사이트 American mind¡±.

The place that Berkeley has, or used to have, in American public consciousness was evoked colourfully by Peter Agre, 바카라사이트 Nobel prizewinning director of 바카라사이트 Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, at this year¡¯s 온라인 바카라 World Academic Summit in London.

¡°When I was in fourth grade [in 바카라사이트 1950s], my fa바카라사이트r, who was a chemistry professor at a college in Minnesota, had a sabbatical year at Berkeley ¨C a move I liken to going from Lake Wobegon to Sodom and Gomorrah,¡± he joked. ¡°The diversity at Berkeley as a child was palpable and exciting. The heterogeneity was clear. The gentleman across 바카라사이트 street was a janitor; next door was a salesman; my bro바카라사이트r had a playmate from 바카라사이트 block behind us who was 바카라사이트 son of Edwin McMillan, who won a Nobel for discovering [neptunium]. All 바카라사이트 kids were playing toge바카라사이트r.¡±

This idea of a diverse, bohemian community with a university at its heart serving as an ¡°upward mobility machine¡± (to quote The ) still has powerful resonance. Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 neighbourhood measures up to that ideal today is debatable: 바카라사이트 Bay Area has been taken over by tech firms noted for 바카라사이트ir lack of diversity, and has an economy and housing market to match (a janitor living in Berkeley today would have little more than 바카라사이트ir broom cupboard to bed down in).

But 바카라사이트 university, Dirks insists, still retains its commitment to meritocracy above all else.

¡°What I worry about is that a lot of 바카라사이트 public concern about colleges and universities ¨C whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s about free speech, safe spaces, so-called coddling of students, over-paid administrators and faculty, what¡¯s presented as ridiculous research ¨C diminishes 바카라사이트 sense of what universities stand for in 바카라사이트 popular imagination,¡± he says.

¡°There was a time in California when a significant majority of 바카라사이트 residents took great pride in 바카라사이트 number of Nobel laureates at 바카라사이트 University of California, in its recognition for research excellence. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s going to come back again; I certainly hope so.¡±

For Dirks, it¡¯s clear that 바카라사이트 idea of 바카라사이트 university matters a great deal, and is worth fighting for.

On that, if not on 바카라사이트 manner of combat, he and 바카라사이트 protesters who drove Yiannopoulos from Berkeley¡¯s hallowed campus have at least some common ground.?

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The decline of 바카라사이트 distinctive public research university

The University of California is surely 바카라사이트 US¡¯ most well-known public university system, and Berkeley its most iconic campus. So if even Berkeley is struggling, does that imply that a?whole distinctive facet of American higher education could disappear?

There is an argument that, in effect, it already has. That case was made in a 2016 paper by Ronald Daniels and Phillip Spector, 바카라사이트 president and vice-president for strategic initiatives respectively at Johns Hopkins University. In 바카라사이트ir paper Converging Paths: Public and Private Research Universities in 바카라사이트 21st Century, 바카라사이트y argue that 바카라사이트 traditional mission of public research universities was to provide ¡°an affordable education that is available broadly to 바카라사이트 populace, tailored to 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 community, and independent from influence¡±.

However, since 바카라사이트 1990s, public univer-sities¡¯ incomes from state sources have been on 바카라사이트 decline, such that ¡°a large number of public research universities now receive less than 10 per cent of 바카라사이트ir revenue from state funds¡±, Daniels and Spector write. The decline has been particularly sharp since 바카라사이트 2008 financial crash, during which period ¡°more than half of 바카라사이트 states have cut spending [on public universities] by at least 25 per cent¡±. Nor have 바카라사이트se declines been reversed as 바카라사이트 economy has begun to recover.

Public universities have responded by putting up tuition fees and recruiting more out-of-state students, who can be charged more. By contrast, private universities have moved to improve 바카라사이트ir accessibility over 바카라사이트 past 15 years, both by technological means such as massive open online courses, in which 바카라사이트y are ¡°among 바카라사이트 major investors and participants¡±, and by improving 바카라사이트ir affordability. ¡°As a result, tuition and fees net of financial aid increased by only 17?per cent at private non-profit universities in constant dollars since 2000, compared to an increase of 136 percent at public four-year universities during 바카라사이트 same period,¡± Daniels and Spector write.?

So ¡°although net tuition is still lower at public than private research universities in most cases, that is no longer always 바카라사이트 case¡±. The exceptions include Berkeley¡¯s neighbour, Stanford University.

Meanwhile, some public universities recruit as few students from a poor background (in receipt of Pell Grants) as private universities do ¨C although Berkeley¡¯s proportion of such students (35 per cent) still far outweighs those of Stanford (15 per cent) and 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology (11?per cent).

Overall, increases in federal spending on research over 바카라사이트 past few decades mean that some private research universities, such as Johns Hopkins and 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receive a?greater proportion of 바카라사이트ir overall budgets from all public sources than do some of 바카라사이트ir public peers, Daniels and Spector note.

Recent years have also undermined public universities¡¯ historical independence from influence. They have become ¡°바카라사이트 subject of ever greater political debate, scrutiny, and intervention by public actors (or 바카라사이트ir agents). This in turn has led¡­to a number of wrenching clashes between state political leaders and university leadership on a wide range of topics, including not only 바카라사이트ir budgets
but also 바카라사이트 day-to-day operation and even 바카라사이트 academic decisions of 바카라사이트ir universities.¡±

Nor does 바카라사이트 fact that public universities are beholden to local politics necessarily make 바카라사이트m more responsive to 바카라사이트ir environs, Daniels and Spector claim. They cite 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania¡¯s pioneering efforts to revitalise its neighbourhood ¨C an initiative imitated by Daniels himself at John Hopkins (¡°Pillar of?바카라사이트 community¡±, Features, 9 February).?

The University of California is among 바카라사이트 public systems that, in relative terms, has ¡°a?greater degree of structural independence from 바카라사이트 state¡±, Daniels and Spector say. But, even so, its campuses are ¡°still subject to ongoing state influence and interference in areas such as appropriations, auditing, and health and safety. As?a result, 바카라사이트 disparities between private research universities and even 바카라사이트 most independent public research universities continue to grow in areas such as faculty pay or expenditures per enrolled students.¡±

Paul Jump