Following a long Cornell tradition dating back to at least 1969 with the takeover of Willard Straight, the minority community has again uncovered racism and oppression where there is none to be found.  The so-called Ken Glover controversy has raised the ire of many, resulting in the printing of countless letters and articles in the Daily Sun, the creation of the group “Students United for Ken Glover,” multiple meetings between students and the administration, at least one forum on campus race relations, and to top it off a resolution passed in the Student Assembly (complete with signature address by V.P. Ola Williams to the student body).  All of this, and those supporting Glover still claim to “have no voice” and are “not being listened to.”

The real story is a short one:  Over the summer, Ujamaa Residential Hall Director Ken Glover was informed that he was being reassigned to High Rise 5 for the coming academic year.  Racists!  How dare the administration reassign a staff member without asking Ola Williams!  Such a wrong cannot go un-righted!  In fairness, according to various accounts it sounds like the execution left something to be desired, but delivering as gracelessly as Robert Gibbs is a far cry from most of what has been said regarding the situation.

Nevertheless, just about everyone jumped on the bandwagon, trumpeting complaints of “lack of transparency,” “we get no support,” “you’re trying to kill Ujamaa,” etc.  All of this is completely unfounded.

For one, Susan Murphy, Cornell’s Vice President of Student and Academic Services, has repeatedly said that the program houses are:  Here to stay.  Going nowhere.  Not in jeopardy.  So this is not an issue about Ujamaa or any other program house.  If the “Glover controversy” is indeed an issue at all, then it is a problem to be resolved as any other problem regarding staff is resolved.  If Glover feels that he has been wronged, then by all means he should take it up with the human resources department.  But the Student Assembly overreaches dearly when it passes resolutions regarding who Cornell employs and where; they have no intimate knowledge of the situation, they don’t know any details about the University’s budget, and they simply aren’t qualified to make assessments about such an issue—I don’t care what their charter says.

Hotel School Student Assembly Rep. Idris Akinpelu ’10 bucked the trend at the November 5 S.A. meeting, offering a much needed dose of sanity to people like Ola.  As someone who knows Glover and expressed gratitude for Ujamaa, he offered a unique perspective.  His argument in short:  Yes, Mr. Glover is moving, but he is not leaving; Mr. Glover will be able to interact with even more students at High Rise 5; and Mr. Glover will be replaced by someone who will be fighting the same fight.  Akinpelu came across as rational and very level-headed, which was in sharp contrast to the combination of pandering and outrage expressed by many others; he’s the second person I’ve been impressed with on the assembly (the first being S.A. Arts & Sciences babe Natalie Raps ’12).

Regardless of Akinpelu’s best efforts, the S.A. passed their resolution creating yet another committee to review yet another campus injustice.  (The last one called for oversight of the Review).  I for one wonder whether anyone has taken into account what Ken Glover actually wants.  Does anyone know?  Yes, many students living at Ujamaa want Ken Glover to stay.  Does he want to stay?  Maybe Glover was excited about the prospect of a change.  He is not theirs to keep.

And would it be, as Akinpelu asked, so terrible, so awful to give a larger audience the benefit of knowing Glover?  Even if his new building is a less than one minute walk from his old one?  Apparently so.

It is time for level heads and common sense to prevail:  Ungraceful staff reassignment is not racism.  When will acknowledging that is the rule rather than the exception?  I’m not holding my breath.