Underclassmen will see three chancellors in three years at this University, but as “changey” as this sounds, transfers are just about the most common thing at most schools.
I could name some statistics, but my own life story is a case study in transfers of chancellors, professors and, as it stands, me.
For about a year between high schools and before I went to college, I explored schools near my hometown of Utica, New York. In 2005 a Chancellor Toobin of Hamilton College (a small liberal arts college outside of Utica) was ousted for a “scandal.” The scandal was that the good chancellor had supposedly plagiarized another professor in a speech. But ethics of speech-citations are muddled, and my friends on campus suspected foul play. In retrospect, the reason Chancellor Toobin probably resigned has to do with Hamilton College hosting a radical liberal speaker, Ward Churchill. The conservative backlash caused Toobin’s resignation.
When I chose North Carolina Central University, I was astounded by the urban-legend statistic that one in four college students either transfers or drops out — until I transferred here for a philosophy degree, which wasn’t offered at North Carolina Central University. Two of my favorite professors, Ebony Golden and Ben DeVan, wrote letters of recommendation knowing full well they were transferring, too. I almost felt a little bad — until I found out that the Chancellor while I was there, James H. Ammons, was transferring, too. He transferred to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he still is today.
When I did transfer to N.C. State, it took some time to recognize two people in the philosophy department – both of whom transferred. Take for instance my old adviser, Jeff Kasser, who specializes in pragmatic philosophy, an American philosophical subcategory rooted in the midwest. Of course he transferred to the University of Colorado. That same year, my then-favorite professor Dr. Jesseph transferred to the University of Southern Florida to study under the legendary Roger Ariew – legendary in esoteric American history of philosophy, at least.
This was funny because Jesseph’s course text was written by Ariew, and when Jesseph told us he was leaving to study under Ariew it took a minute to realize he had taught Ariew’s translation in order to review the more well-known philosopher’s work. Jesseph wasn’t coming back. Come to think of it, Jesseph even wrote me a recommendation for Study Abroad, which isn’t ironic so much as fitting: it doesn’t go against what you might think. That is, Jesseph wasn’t thinking too hard about writing a recommendation, but we can just as easily fit it into this larger picture of movement.
Looking back, a good quarter to one half of all of my professors have transferred or left: and all of my chancellors transferred.
Mind you, undergraduate students, this all happens over the course of four years. Friends have graduated and transferred out, dropped out, flunked out, gone to graduate school, moved out west, gone over seas for study abroad, and all the while new blood and fresh faces enroll into each incoming class. Not to mention I’m always forgetting names, people, stories, and faces! In other words, everything is moving, moving, moving.
It’s a good thing.
