Prayer service for Concordia University-Wisconsin

[Michael Slusser]

BTW, there is an employee handbook at CUC and it is currently being updated. I'm told that it is "easy accessible".

That does not surprise me.

Peace,
Michael

[Richard Johnson]

Richard noted upstream that his outsider's perspective was that Schulz wasn't playing with a full deck. Stapleton's deck seems to consist of two or three cards-- the "They're institutionally racist!" of spades, the "They're LGBTQaphobes!" of hearts, and the "Police are pawns in an oppressive system!" of clubs.

You should be ashamed of yourself. 

[Birkholz]

Perhaps a new thread should be started for the CUC situation. 

For those who are interested, today's townhall can be viewed here:
https://youtu.be/CRJ0v4LGEfo

Local news coverage:
https://abc7chicago.com/concordia-university-chicago-protest-racism-paul-stapleton/11742540/

[Jeremy_Loesch]

So in the town hall the students asked for more diversity among the faculty and more scholarships for black and brown students. (Asian students were not shown on camera receiving two giant middle fingers raised in their direction.)

And just where will these Lutheran faculty of color come from? Do we expect John Nunes to spend one year at each of the Concordias as a circuit riding prof? That's a lot to ask of him.

I'm glad there was a town hall mtg and I'm not surprised that the administration took it seriously and listened. The complainants are only listening for one answer and will never be satisfied.

There was a faculty and staff handbook in 1995 too. This professor who was banned is a tool.  Harbor Freight, not Makita.

Jeremy

[Rev. Edward Engelbrecht]

And just where will these Lutheran faculty of color come from?

Africa. But that will take time as students are prepared for teaching positions on other continents.

[Dave Benke]

BTW, Dave, how are things outside your door?

13 injured in Brooklyn subway rush hour shooting this morning. Undetonated devices found.  You and yours OK, Dave?

K.S. Hahn 'CSL '72

My nephew (one of brother Mike's sons) and his wife and two young boys live in Sunset Park, where this took place.  He and his younger son were on the next train after the one where the shooting took place just around 8:30 AM.  The conductor told them to get the hell onto the train on 45th Street and off they went; they stopped at the 36th Street station where the train with windows shot out was located and took on passengers.  His wife teaches at the public school which is near that station.
Then the train rolled on and  he and his son (3 yrs old) got off at the 25th St. station, next down the line, and people began to run, because one of those who was shot was on their train and ran off.  Out they ran, with the little three year old happy because everyone was running.  Way too close for comfort.

Dave Benke

Quick follow-up.  The various agencies, with help from the perpetrator who called the Hotline on himself (!), have in custody the shooter.  Turns out he had most recently been living in Milwaukee, but has a substantial arrest record in this part of the world.  Unstable and angry. 

It also turns out that he, along with many others, left the N train yesterday morning and went to the next train, the R.  Meaning he was riding in the same train as my nephew and his three year old.  The perpetrator then got off at the next station.  As did Jordan and Spiro.  So they were together there, along with several of those who had been shot, on the same train.

One of the issues to solve is the non--working cameras in some of the stations and station areas, and to increase the already significant police presence on the trains.  I agree with these steps completely.  I don't know how it is in other towns and places, but there are cameras in NYC pretty much everywhere.  I'm sure most of you who are in parishes have cameras throughout the buildings.  We do.

Today's NYT has an article on how the shooter got away at first.  Prominent in the article is what happened to my nephew Jordan.  It turns out the shooter was not only on his train, and not only in his car on the train, but directly next to him and for a few moments was between him and his son on the train as it got to the 25th Street Station:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/nyregion/brooklyn-subway-shooter-nypd-manhunt.html

Dave Benke

[Dave Benke]

I guess I'll post this here so as not to mix the CUC and CUWAA threads too badly.  My thought is that the greater immediate danger to the Concordia system is coming through the situation at CUWAA.  CUC has a non-tenured professor with not many LCMS connections making broad statements that seem to me at least to be taking things out of context (unless there's more to the story than I've heard so far).  Once it's determined what the faculty handbook actually says and what the parameters are for guest professors, this should settle out.

CUWAA is about a professor whose disconnected open letters and commentary are first of all undergirded by a highly organized and orchestrated group from within the LCMS.  Events and continuing commentary is being supported by social media outlets hosted by rostered clergy within the LCMS, and by protests undertaken in large regard by ordained rostered workers.  The aim of the concerns seems in great part to be to disempower the board of regents and leadership of the institution in its process of finding a successor to serve as President.

So it's
from within the rostered ranks
highly organized and orchestrated
directed at the system itself and various leaders by name in order to have them unelected (regents) and to scramble the selection process

Dave Benke

[peter_speckhard]

I guess I'll post this here so as not to mix the CUC and CUWAA threads too badly.  My thought is that the greater immediate danger to the Concordia system is coming through the situation at CUWAA.  CUC has a non-tenured professor with not many LCMS connections making broad statements that seem to me at least to be taking things out of context (unless there's more to the story than I've heard so far).  Once it's determined what the faculty handbook actually says and what the parameters are for guest professors, this should settle out.

CUWAA is about a professor whose disconnected open letters and commentary are first of all undergirded by a highly organized and orchestrated group from within the LCMS.  Events and continuing commentary is being supported by social media outlets hosted by rostered clergy within the LCMS, and by protests undertaken in large regard by ordained rostered workers.  The aim of the concerns seems in great part to be to disempower the board of regents and leadership of the institution in its process of finding a successor to serve as President.

So it's
from within the rostered ranks
highly organized and orchestrated
directed at the system itself and various leaders by name in order to have them unelected (regents) and to scramble the selection process

Dave Benke

That explanation lacks a motive. Why are they doing all those things? Who bothers to unelect regents? Unless, of course, it is a more substantive battle over the future of our identity and mission, in which case it seems unfair to paint it as simple squabbling for control. If they have no substantive complaint, they also have no motive to be doing all these orchestrated things. And if their complaint is substantive in nature, then that substance is what the story is about, so to speak.

[Dave Benke]

I guess I'll post this here so as not to mix the CUC and CUWAA threads too badly.  My thought is that the greater immediate danger to the Concordia system is coming through the situation at CUWAA.  CUC has a non-tenured professor with not many LCMS connections making broad statements that seem to me at least to be taking things out of context (unless there's more to the story than I've heard so far).  Once it's determined what the faculty handbook actually says and what the parameters are for guest professors, this should settle out.

CUWAA is about a professor whose disconnected open letters and commentary are first of all undergirded by a highly organized and orchestrated group from within the LCMS.  Events and continuing commentary is being supported by social media outlets hosted by rostered clergy within the LCMS, and by protests undertaken in large regard by ordained rostered workers.  The aim of the concerns seems in great part to be to disempower the board of regents and leadership of the institution in its process of finding a successor to serve as President.

So it's
from within the rostered ranks
highly organized and orchestrated
directed at the system itself and various leaders by name in order to have them unelected (regents) and to scramble the selection process

Dave Benke

That explanation lacks a motive. Why are they doing all those things? Who bothers to unelect regents? Unless, of course, it is a more substantive battle over the future of our identity and mission, in which case it seems unfair to paint it as simple squabbling for control. If they have no substantive complaint, they also have no motive to be doing all these orchestrated things. And if their complaint is substantive in nature, then that substance is what the story is about, so to speak.

 I think it's both.  It is definitely orchestrated toward control.  And it's orchestrated toward control behind an ideologically conservative set of positions.  The substance is Woke Dysphoria, and as you've seen it carried out by Professor Schulz, it has to do with both the ideology of wokeness and the orchestration of control.  In conflicted situations, control trumps substance because when there's control, the substantial concerns are taken care of by majority vote.  Koinonia Project 101. Enough talking - let's vote.

Dave Benke

[Harry Edmon]

There is an article on Steadfast Lutherans which includes a letter from President Harrison to the Board of Regents about his visit to CUWAA:

https://steadfastlutherans.org/2022/05/president-harrison-faithfully-addresses-cuw-regents/

[Steven W Bohler]

There is an article on Steadfast Lutherans which includes a letter from President Harrison to the Board of Regents about his visit to CUWAA:

https://steadfastlutherans.org/2022/05/president-harrison-faithfully-addresses-cuw-regents/

Wow.  Sounds like Dr. Schultz was more right than wrong.  At least according to this letter and President Harrison's recommendations.

[Charles Austin]

I am, of course, an outsider, but this report from the Synod president looks like it could be a disaster for the school when it comes to recruiting and retaining students, replacing faculty members, maintaining campus morale, and courting prospective donors.

[Dave Benke]

Does this letter addressed to the CUWAA Board of Regents appear on the CUWAA or LCMS portals?  I find nothing.  "I received this letter with encouragement to share it" is purposefully vague.  It is also hostile to the attitude taken by Synodical leadership throughout the process of the visitation, which has/had been to keep things "in house."  Specifically with regards to the outcomes desired in the letter, the process shifts from being conducted by Synodical leadership in an internal way to the mode of a peremptory strike.  It's not possible to imagine that the CUWAA Board of Regents could have responded yet, so another chapter will be revealed.

Substantially to control and command issues in the LCMS university system, this circles back to the bylaw powers of the prior approval panel in the selection of university presidents.

Dave Benke

[Jeremy_Loesch]

Charles, we were all wondering what you think.

Or it could be heartening to people who want the Concordias to maintain some vestige of their original mission and Lutheran identity, which is more than just a glance at Lutheran heritage.

Jeremy

[Steven W Bohler]

Does this letter addressed to the CUWAA Board of Regents appear on the CUWAA or LCMS portals?  I find nothing.  "I received this letter with encouragement to share it" is purposefully vague.  It is also hostile to the attitude taken by Synodical leadership throughout the process of the visitation, which has/had been to keep things "in house."  Specifically with regards to the outcomes desired in the letter, the process shifts from being conducted by Synodical leadership in an internal way to the mode of a peremptory strike.  It's not possible to imagine that the CUWAA Board of Regents could have responded yet, so another chapter will be revealed.

Substantially to control and command issues in the LCMS university system, this circles back to the bylaw powers of the prior approval panel in the selection of university presidents.

Dave Benke

Our Minnesota North District convention was this past week (Monday--Wednesday).  President Harrison was present and gave his report and took questions, as usual.  One of those questions he answered had to do with this situation. While he was not as explicit in those remarks as in this letter, the gist was pretty much the same.