The Chair
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She advocated that the students should police themselves according to mores that would mutually evolve between them.
You might remember it.
The students were audibly and visibly upset; the professor was defensive.
Regardless of how you felt about the initial email, the showdown was hard to watch.
If anything, hes its Socrates.
To be fair to Bill, at least he is concerned with the ideals at stake.
Pembroke isnt worried that Bills a Nazi; its worried that Pembroke donors might think hes a Nazi.
And if this all ends in Bills resignation, so be it.
The university needs to trim the English budget anyway.
Meanwhile, Bill is so impressed by his own charm that hes oblivious to his chauvinism.
I like when you act like youre my boss, he condescends to Ji-Yoon.
(Seriously, how does he manage so much pomposity while walking around in an Aircast?)
Its not his fascism on trial, she explains, its his limitless arrogance.
Bills self-righteous crusade is just one more thing on her plate, which is always Thanksgiving-dinner-level full.
When Ji-Yoon warns her not to comment, though, the collegial advice sounds like a threat.
And now Yaz is unhappy too.
Her co-taught course onMoby-Dickis sinking faster than thePequod.
Meanwhile, Bills classes have been postponed, which somehow surprises him.
There are already campus copycats posting knockoffs of his meme.
But Bill doesnt trouble himself with anything so vulgar as consequences.
The ease with which he blows off everyones advice reveals him to be a very specific kind of shit.
Joan, too, would prefer to ignore the world of consequences.
He reads aloud to her not from her beloved Chaucer but the minuscule font of RateMyProfessors.com.
The anonymous posts are mostly nasty remarks about her looks, so maybe she was better off without Wi-Fi.
Perhaps the worst part about the chairs workday so far is that it never seems to end.
Except its not Yazs anymore.
Mrs. Whittenden offered it to David Duchovny, whoalmostgot his Ph.D. in English.
(He is also a New YorkTimesbest-selling author.)
The kids want movie stars and creative-writing degrees, so someone better find Mulder an office.
But if Larson is the enemy of intellect, then Bill cant be all bad.
Right now, hes babysitting the unassailably shrewd Juju, who can tell when an adults evading the truth.
More softly, she confides that she doesnt remember her birth mom.
When Ji-Yoon asks to game-plan the town hall, he lapses into Springtime for Hitler.
Its snowing on the morning of the town hall, which is well attended but not overwhelmingly so.
The students occasionally misunderstand him, and it doesnt really matter if the confusion is willful or not.
The breakdown is happening.
It reveals something about whats going wrong on campus.
Suddenly, times up.
The students want an apology; Bill cant commit.
Its a perfect storm.
The dean arrives, though hes actually trying to dump the quad for a donor event.
The students are upset at Bill, but, man, they really hate that guy.
The termhead of collegewas subbed in formaster.
Finally, panic flickers in his eyes.
