When I was writing Remus College, I couldn’t help but notice how many times people would act petty over the dumbest things. People would make serious academic decisions based on their relationships with other committee members. The most significant example of this happens between Dr. Elymus and Professor Townsend. Throughout the entire novel, Elymus goes against the school’s best interest at every turn if it means that Townsend’s life will be more miserable.

I thought that when I moved to Romulus University. This behavior would change. I figured this institution would enact that professionalism word that was constantly bandied about at Remus but never exercised. It turns out that this is not the case, at least not in the same ways.

We are currently going through some building repurposing as a cost-cutting measure. It is standard stuff that happens when a school is trying to develop a new identity in the face of shrinking student numbers. Our Director of IT, Mr. Terwilliger, suggested that my building would be an excellent place to relocate our Visual Arts department. His rationale stemmed from the fact that the building had a solid network for the current computers the Arts faculty uses. This move would mean that the building the Arts faculty partially occupies would sit empty, except for the art gallery and the conference rooms that are still in use.

This does not appease our Fearless Leader because they have a clear objective to keep certain areas of the campus aesthetically pleasing. I see nothing wrong with this perspective. It is always good to keep your home looking friendly and inviting because that can draw people to your space. However, there is a delicate balance between form and function that I feel a lot of people willfully ignore, sometimes to the point of cutting off a nose to spite the face.

So it was with the Arts relocation. After Terwilliger’s comments, our Fearless Leader balked at the notion of moving the Arts department. Even though the rest of the academic cabinet was entirely in favor of going forward with the move, Fearless Leader did not want to budge. From all accounts, it took several weeks of coaxing from the provost and his assistant, as well as other cabinet members, to make the move look more alluring.

Fearless Leader finally relented and gave the go-ahead for the move. All of this commotion over a comment that made logical sense. Keeping something open just because it looked nice, but costs too much to keep continually open, is a head scratcher to me. I am beginning to worry that the shine this place had when I first arrived is not only gone, but the paint is starting to peel, revealing what this school really is like.