A Matter of Trust(eeship)
My alma mater, the College formerly known as Western Maryland College, elected more trustees over the weekend at their meeting. Two trustees, one WMC graduate, one non-graduate, were elected along with the re-election of other Board members.
One of my biggest problems with my alma mater, obviously, was the name change. I led the charge against the name change, attempting to keep the name of the school as Western Maryland College. Obviously, we were not successful; only the name "Western Maryland College Alumni Hall" (the school theater) remains today.
But I think the election of the directors, as well as the re-election of two non-grduates as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, once again shows the fundamental problem in that the college does not believe in its traditions. This goes back to a point that I made in March discussing the new athletic building. A trustee who did not graduate from the institution does not have the kind of connection to the school that a graduate trustee would. Am I saying that all trustees should be graduates? Absolutely not. But to have the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of a college so rich in tradition and scholarship as WMC has not proved to be particualrly productive in the last five years.
Do I think James Melhorn and Martin Hill are bad people? Absolutely not. But just because the two men have connections to the Westminster and Carroll County business community, it does not necessarily mean that they are in tune with where the college's alumni sit on issues. And that is the key to tradition and community. I get the phone calls (sometimes twice a day) from WMC solicitors asking for donations. I don't even pick up the phone. After the name change, the school is not going to get a donation from me. I might help individual clubs (I offered to help WMC's MSL delegation this year) but I cannot bear the thought of donating to any funds put forth by the school. Not after the name change.
It is time for WMC to have more alumni trustees. It is the only way to go to maintain our traditions.
One of my biggest problems with my alma mater, obviously, was the name change. I led the charge against the name change, attempting to keep the name of the school as Western Maryland College. Obviously, we were not successful; only the name "Western Maryland College Alumni Hall" (the school theater) remains today.
But I think the election of the directors, as well as the re-election of two non-grduates as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, once again shows the fundamental problem in that the college does not believe in its traditions. This goes back to a point that I made in March discussing the new athletic building. A trustee who did not graduate from the institution does not have the kind of connection to the school that a graduate trustee would. Am I saying that all trustees should be graduates? Absolutely not. But to have the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of a college so rich in tradition and scholarship as WMC has not proved to be particualrly productive in the last five years.
Do I think James Melhorn and Martin Hill are bad people? Absolutely not. But just because the two men have connections to the Westminster and Carroll County business community, it does not necessarily mean that they are in tune with where the college's alumni sit on issues. And that is the key to tradition and community. I get the phone calls (sometimes twice a day) from WMC solicitors asking for donations. I don't even pick up the phone. After the name change, the school is not going to get a donation from me. I might help individual clubs (I offered to help WMC's MSL delegation this year) but I cannot bear the thought of donating to any funds put forth by the school. Not after the name change.
It is time for WMC to have more alumni trustees. It is the only way to go to maintain our traditions.
posted by Brian Griffiths at 11:00 PM
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