I've been hit in the face by many "growth opportunities" this fall. Some of these lessons have come in the form of administrative changes and renegotiating the terrain, and some as personal betrayals by colleagues. Others have appeared when individuals have left (or are planning to leave) for other places due to the changes in our community. And still other lessons have popped into my path when watching the treatment of students, and colleagues.
Underlying these growth opportunities has been one big learning.
I have been learning the power of getting out of the way to allow people to take ownership for the consequences of their actions. This goes against my nature -- I believe the light fights the dark whenever it appears; however, sometimes that fight looks non-aggressive, or -- this bit hurts -- like giving up and walking away.
This lesson has come home to me again this week in the form of a strong protest by our students against the Office of the President.
One of the core heart places on our campus is the Music Bay. In our first few years, this small university supported both students with immense talent, and those who had never strummed a guitar or banged a drum. The first few classes produced CDs of original music -- for fun, and as part of their academic requirements for graduation. I have two of these compilations on regular rotation in my car.
As I read through the eloquent and thoughtful testimonials written by students -- some of whom graduated in 2012 -- I remembered the thread of music that ran through our campus. I lived in the residences one year, and was woken up in the wee hours of the morning to an incessant pounding above my head. I wandered the corridors, seeking the source, and ended up in the room next door, where about 25 students were drumming away, singing, and laughing. It stopped -- when my bleary-eyed self appeared -- with apologies and hugs. One student showed up with apples for me the next day as way of apology. This was how our students created community, demonstrated their connections, and expressed their creativity. I remember visiting our former president's condo (he lived on campus above the gym!) where the walls vibrated when students practiced in the Music Bay, and laughing about the terrible sound transfer in the buildings on our campus. I remember our moustachioed minstrel, walking barefoot, with a hat and a guitar, welcoming new members to our community.
Without consultation, the Office of the President took away the Music Bay to make space for an on campus day care initiative spearheaded by a small group of faculty parents for their children. I want to be clear that this is not a faculty initiative that has come through the Academic Council, but a business proposition put forward by an interested group of people.
In response, students organized. They held a drum circle at lunch time. They collected comments from other students, including graduates, about the role of the Music Bay in their experience at the university. They held a talking circle where they could hear each other. They invited the Office of the President to discuss these issues, to attend the drum circle, to come to the talking circle. And the Office of the President chose not to.
The following few days, I hosted students through my office who are seeing what it feels like not to be heard, to be ignored, and to be silenced. They are standing up for themselves, and in the process, are growing.
My instinct is to get in the middle and help, protect the students, and explain other ways of being to the people making these decisions. What I'm learning is that the avenue for growth doesn't involve someone getting in the middle and "helping." The avenue for growth is about feeling the uncomfortable feelings, and learning how to process them to move forward. The avenue for growth is about not being heard, and taking that very experience to become self-authoring. The avenue for growth is about failing, and then getting right back up and moving on with more tools in your arsenal.
This is important right now because I'm describing a microcosm of what is happening around Canada and the US with Trump's election. It behooves those of us, who are watching in horror as Trump is tweeting about a statement made by the cast of Hamilton, to get out of the way. Let people feel what they feel, and learn resilience. Let people take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Let people understand that they are responsible for themselves. Let people speak their truth, and support them when they do this -- no matter how much you disagree with their truth. This takes vast stores of courage because speaking up when someone in power says that you are wrong, or powerless, or out of order, or sabotaging something dear to you is scary, and hard. And that is exactly why we must do this -- to ensure that everyone is heard and that knowledge is not controlled and used to bolster up power by those holding all the cards.
I hold out hope that the students will be heard, will get a space to practice, and that our little community will start working together again. I suspect students will have some more big lessons ahead of them, and I trust in their strength and skills to handle them all.
I hold out hope that all people will be heard, will get space to be, and that our little planet will start working together again. I suspect that we all will have some more big lessons ahead of us, and I trust in our strength and skills to handle them all.
