Denise Juneau and the U of M

I receive at least 2 emails a day begging, shaming and cajoling me into signing a petition for this that or the other cause against one offense or many.  Support Standing Rock, by pushing buttons on my keyboard.  Tell Trump that White Supremacy is bad, by pushing buttons on my keyboard.  Tell Obama to do this, and Trump to do that, and Tester to do this other thing, while pushing buttons on my keyboard.  Petitions have no effect.  None whatsoever.

The latest one that floods my Inbox is to tell the Board of Regents for the state of Montana to hire Denise Juneau as the President of the University of Montana.  I have a few questions here: 1) Has the job been listed for application?  (No, it hasn't).  2)  Has Juneau applied?  (No, she hasn't).  3)  Does Denise Juneau even want the job?  I have no idea.  Nor does anyone else begging me to sign the petition.  Listen up, folks.  I'm more than passingly familiar with how things work in the process of state hiring.  Your online petition is crap.  The Board of Regents is not elected, so you have no say in what they do.  The Governor proposes membership to this august body.  Your petition is a lie, and obligates another person who may not even want what you keep cluttering my email with.  Your petition means nothing, save this:  you want what you want and seem to think that I want the same without discussion or reason.  Put frankly, I don't see that as any different than what has come from Trump voters.

Don't get me wrong.  I think she'd be awesome, in her first year.  But the challenges that face the U of M are custom made  for failure at the Presidency level.  Students are flocking to the hard science University.  Missoula city and county governments have never been in any way agreeable.  And no one knows the real vagaries of the Board of Regents.  Despite the 700% pay raise, I wouldn't want that damned job.  Okay, maybe I would.  But has anyone asked Denise?  That's the part that bugs me the most about online petitions and voter arrogance in our pseudo-democracy.  No little petition is going to force behavior on the part of another, not the regents, and not Juneau.

Comments

[Sheila N.]

Unsubscribe! From all of them! It'll help a little, maybe, and you can feel like you're doing something about all the 💩 in your inbox.

[jerryslander]

Montana Kaimin is reporting that Juneau will apply.

"Outgoing Superintendent of Public Education Denise Juneau confirmed she will apply to be president of the University of Montana.

The same day Royce Engstrom’s resignation was announced, Juneau’s supporters started an online petition calling for the Board of Regents to hire her for the position. Juneau initially said she would consider applying and confirmed that she will throw her hat in the ring Friday."

http://www.montanakaimin.com/news/juneau-confirms-her-application-for-um-president-discusses-future-of/article_6099ff02-be76-11e6-a189-6fbc80fa2390.html

Of course, just because she's a popular dem politician in Montana doesn't mean she's the right person for the UofM presidency. Actually, given the predominantly republican legislature, asking a dem politician to navigate relations with the rep leg isn't a prescription for a good outcome. Better the Regents hire someone who can give the UofM a better direction given the inevitable austerity that is going to be foisted in its direction.