05 Nov The reach of personal ethics

I study money. Well, i study what money does – capital, accumulation by dispossession, insert-buzz-term, insert-buzz-term. No, it’s is not always money “in the last instance” (as Katharyne Mitchell always asks) – but it is often somewhere in the intersection of it all. And this is where the conundrum of contradiction begins.

I have been taking a leadership class for GOMAP ambassadors. It’s been a valuable class in talking about diversity in the university, in graduate schools, in departments. It’s been fantastic in getting us to think about elevator speeches, learning how universities function and work (who’s in charge of what and how), and in really diving into some of the stickier issues. We are now at our Advancement section (e.g., creating long term relationships with community members). And this is where i falter

Genreal Barry McCaffrey came to speak at the University this week (i’ll write about that in another post). Afterward, there was a reception. As this was a Danz Lecture, the bulk of attendees are alumni and supporters of the lectures and of the university as a whole. We were expected to go “practice” networking. After the rather – well, let’s just say the talk was an excellent teaching tool – talk, i realized that there was no way that i could walk into a room full of potential donors who all looked like they were agreeing with him, and not accidentally put my foot in my mouth.

I brought this up, and was, variously over the course of the next two hours, told that i should Play Nice, Learn to Smile and Nod, Swallow Your Politics, Have Humility, Think of it as a Teaching Moment, etc., etc. Then the class continued on with speaking about people as potential donors. That’s it – treat everyone well because they might give us money. Swallow your politics because they might give us money. Remember the end goal: They Might Give Us Money.

I can’t. Does that make me immature? This is an ongoing issue in academia – this scramble for money at any cost to the soul because, really, in the end, what matters IS the money. I don’t agree. I cannot, in good conscience, simply accept that premise. Should i? If all we are is our integrity, particularly in such torrid times, don’t we have a responsibility to stand up at least in those?

I faced a similar conundrum last winter while applying for funds from a hyper-conservative classical liberal funding place. I was at war with my soul for three days. I felt like my integrity was being ripped out of me. And everyone said, “Money’s money.” But is it? Can it be? Where is our integrity if it is not rooted in the root of what we root out? Does the ends justify the means? What is the scale of the continuum of integrity?