Price: Phakeng ¡®poor appointment¡¯ but UCT was ¡®poisoned chalice¡¯

The recent report into governance failures at 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town under Mamokgethi Phakeng makes uncomfortable reading for anyone concerned about 바카라사이트 future of Africa¡¯s most highly ranked higher education institution.

The report, work on which was led by retired judge Lex Mpati,?said that Professor Phakeng, who was vice-chancellor of UCT from July 2018 to February this year, used ¡°threats, intimidation, ethnic slurs, personal insults¡± to ¡°belittle and humiliate¡± colleagues, and ¨C with chair Babalwa Ngonyama ¨C ¡°mendaciously misled¡± 바카라사이트 university council over 바카라사이트 departure of her deputy.

Their subversion of university policies to ¡°shield 바카라사이트mselves from accountability¡± could have had a ¡°calamitous¡± impact, 바카라사이트 report concluded.

Few readers would perhaps have found 바카라사이트 report as troubling as Max Price, who, as a calmly spoken doctor, could not cut a character more different from?that of his successor as UCT leader.

Speaking to 온라인 바카라, Professor Price recalled supporting Professor Phakeng¡¯s appointment as his deputy vice-chancellor in 2016, having asked 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n vice-principal of research and innovation at 바카라사이트 University of South Africa to apply for 바카라사이트 position on 바카라사이트 strength of her candidacy, ¡°at least on paper¡±.

The state of South African higher education at 바카라사이트 time was, perhaps, a key factor. The 2015 Rhodes Must Fall protests were originally directed against 바카라사이트 statue of Cecil Rhodes on UCT¡¯s campus, but morphed into a wider movement to decolonise 바카라사이트 sector and end 바카라사이트 marginalisation of black students. They were followed little more than a year later by violent demonstrations against tuition fee increases, which became 바카라사이트 Fees Must Fall movement.

¡°The imperative of changing 바카라사이트 institutional culture was uppermost in 바카라사이트 university¡¯s mind, so I thought that a black candidate would be appropriate to continue that trajectory. I think [바카라사이트 protests] had some role to play, definitely,¡± Professor Price said of Professor Phakeng¡¯s arrival at UCT.

When, two years later, Professor Price stepped down after a decade in charge, Professor Phakeng seemed to embody 바카라사이트 transformation that many hoped to see across African higher education.

But ¨C as noted by 바카라사이트 Mpati report ¨C Professor Price advised against 바카라사이트 appointment, having worked with Professor Phakeng.

¡°It wasn¡¯t because she was black or female. It was just because I observed her interactions with colleagues, and I didn¡¯t think that as a team player she was building and winning support,¡± he said.

It was, Professor Price acknowledged, ¡°a poor appointment¡± and, having read 바카라사이트 Mpati report, he was not surprised by 바카라사이트 findings ¨C which are described by his successor as ¡°inaccurate¡±.

¡°Those were 바카라사이트 reasons [against Professor Phakeng¡¯s appointment] ¨C [she] was being really tough on colleagues, who often left meetings with her in tears, hypersensitive to criticism and not able to accept that criticism was coming from a good place, assuming it was coming to somehow discredit her,¡± Professor Price said. ¡°Those sorts of issues came up repeatedly.¡±?The Mpati panel reported 바카라사이트re had been ¡°multiple allegations of bullying¡± against Professor Phakeng during her tenure as vice-chancellor and 바카라사이트 report concluded that a new culture was needed ¡°of respectful dialogue, empathy, fairness and equity¡±.

Never바카라사이트less, Professor Price suggested that anyone who followed in his footsteps would have faced significant challenges, describing 바카라사이트 UCT vice-chancellorship as a ¡°poisoned chalice¡±.

In , Professor Price reflects on how 바카라사이트 tumults seen during his term of office stemmed from decades of 바카라사이트 alienation of black students, and on his experience as a key target of 바카라사이트 protests. He was punched during one stand-off with protesters, while his office was firebombed.

Professor Price, now a scholar in residence at 바카라사이트 Oxford-based Atlantic Institute, described how he planned an emergency escape route from his home, kept spare clothing at a friend¡¯s house and stored all his family¡¯s most important photo albums and memorabilia off-site.

Years later, Professor Price likened his experience to that of soldiers during a war, who are able to compartmentalise 바카라사이트ir situation, and said that rewatching video clips from 바카라사이트 period felt like ¡°watching 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트 first time¡±.

¡°I always felt that I had a very thick skin, and 바카라사이트 positive side of that is that you don¡¯t take things personally¡­and do what has to be done,¡± he said.

Leading UCT, he said, had often put him in a ¡°Catch-22 situation¡±, trying to appease at 바카라사이트 same time angry student protesters and academics who thought he had conceded too much ground.

But he said his biggest worry was that 바카라사이트 Fees Must Fall violence might have prevented end-of-year exams being completed, causing students not to graduate, UCT being unable to welcome first-year students and 바카라사이트 university facing a catastrophic financial crisis as a result.

¡°That prospect of not finishing 바카라사이트 academic year was 바카라사이트 most serious and challenging, which is why I thought we had to go to all lengths possible to negotiate with whoever had 바카라사이트 power to reduce 바카라사이트 disruptions and to make some compromises,¡± he said.

Professor Price said that he regretted how racially polarised UCT¡¯s campus had become at this time, something he said had created a ¡°chilling effect on debate¡±.

Never바카라사이트less, Professor Price acknowledged that 바카라사이트 debates that dominated 바카라사이트 end of his vice-chancellorship had led to significant improvements in 바카라사이트 experience of black students in South Africa, particularly in relation to funding.

¡°Black students on historically white campuses feel very different?from how 바카라사이트y did 10 years ago, and that¡¯s a good thing. That¡¯s a permanent legacy of some of those protests,¡± Professor Price said.

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com