Rice at risk of losing identity without students' input

By Doug Farry     9/2/10 7:00pm

I graduated from Rice University in 1992. I never worked for KTRU, nor was I particularly a fan of the station while a Rice student. However, what I've seen and heard about the decision to sell the KTRU radio broadcast tower - which became a Rice asset during my time there - has been extremely disappointing and not "Rice-like." Worse, President David Leebron's reaction to the criticism has been patronizing and dismissive, while completely misunderstanding why students and alums are objecting.As a very proud Rice alum, I've tried to stay involved - including interviewing prospective students from the San Diego region. One quality I emphasize is that Rice students are not treated like a temporary customer. Admission to Rice means becoming an integral part of the Rice community for the rest of their lives. They are invited to participate in, and contribute to, key decisions affecting the community they've chosen to be a part of.

To illustrate, I've explained my role - as a student - in helping rewrite the on-campus alcohol policy. In 1991, the school was increasingly concerned about its liability from potential alcohol-related accidents by students. Then-President George Rupp understood that restricting legal alcohol use by students would significantly impact student life. President Rupp invited the other college presidents and me to numerous meetings over several weeks. He rationally explained how the current policy increased Rice's liability and proposed several alternatives. Fully informed, we had an opportunity to discuss options with our peers. With their input, we then constructively worked with the administration to draft a new policy addressing the university's concerns while protecting student interests.

We were treated like responsible adults who were capable of making informed and educated decisions affecting our school. Students couldn't complain about the outcome because they helped drive the process. And the process expanded our educational experience - beyond the books to real-world decision making and negotiation.

---

---

Fast-forward to the recent KTRU decision. I received President Leebron's e-mail arguing that secrecy was required because the decision was sensitive and complicated. Anyone familiar with Rice's history and culture would understand that a decision requiring such secrecy was a decision not worth making. Leebron also claimed it made financial sense, while preserving the KTRU "experience" for students in a new online format. Leebron argued that radio is dead, and that the Internet allows KTRU to reach a bigger audience globally. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Those arguments MAY have merit - if made BEFORE the sale, not AFTER. (Although I'm unconvinced, based on my knowledge of FCC spectrum issues ...) The process deprived current students of the valuable experience of making real-world trade-offs and decisions. Leebron's rationale implies that KTRU advocates are merely a selfish minority incapable of making reasonable compromises - and substitutes Leebron's judgment for what's important to students. He claimed that this was a unique circumstance, and that he plans to include students more in future decisions. At Rice, student participation is not a "nice to have," it is a "must-have." I find the explanation patronizing and insulting.

I am a proud alum because Rice University is not like any other school. Rice attracts some of the most intelligent, capable, mature and well-rounded people in the world. By excluding them from the KTRU decision-making process, President Leebron and the board have communicated to all of us that they don't trust the students to be discrete, mature and adult. If we cannot trust Leebron and the administration to understand this on relatively small issues like what to do about KTRU, why should we trust him to make the larger decisions affecting the larger Rice community we care so much about?

Doug Farry is a former Will Rice College president ('92).

---