Stephen Hardwick: When listening to people talking about their pain, you’ve got to actually listen and do so respectfully, even when you disagree with what they’re asking for. Probably especially when you disagree. Even more so when you’re one of the people responsible for the speakers’ safety. (gift link)

When listening to people talking about their pain, you’ve got to actually listen and do so respectfully, even when you disagree with what they’re asking for. Probably especially when you disagree. Even more so when you’re one of the people responsible for the speakers’ safety. (gift link)

3 Columbia Deans Placed on Leave Over Conduct at Antisemitism Panelwww.nytimes.com Leaked images showed the trio sharing disparaging text messages during an alumni group discussion last month about Jewish life on campus.

I’ve sat on panels where angry people who feel threatened ask me to make decisions to ameliorate their pain (zoning & school facilities). Sometimes the anger is unjustified, but it often is, & not always when you expect. If you don’t listen respectfully, people can never trust your vote against them

The people who should be most angry at these Columbia administrators are those who want the school to show more respect for pro-Palestinian demonstrators. These texts made it much harder for the school to move in that direction.

Here’s a recent example from Columbus. This school board member is right on the merits, and he’s right that some critics are being unfair and hypocritical, but drafting a memo urging grossly unfair tactics has made it much harder for our school board to make the right long-term decisions.

The saga of CCS Board Member Simmons’ memo is an indictment of having public comment at local government business meetings. Speakers should be listened to for concerns & content, but the number of speakers on each side should never be treated as a measure of public opinion or the right thing to do.

Columbus City school board releases leaked memo investigation, shows Simmons 'sole author'www.dispatch.com The Columbus City school board voted to waive attorney-client privilege and release an investigation into the leaked document scandal.

The exploitation of this by a publication like the Free Beacon and its ilk is more disturbing to me than most of these texts. Especially the first one.

Yep. But the administrators gave that power to the Free Beacon. They should listen carefully and respectfully, then make the right decisions when the time comes.

I agree. Although I don’t think the first person’s text is anything like the others. It’s just performative outrage by a fascist rag, and it makes me more ill than what some administrator at Columbia is doing.

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