Thomas X.

Grasso

MCC – Its Future at Stake

We have heard much over the past weeks and months concerning the negative actions of some
members of the MCC Board that are disturbing if not frightening. For what it is worth I would
like to offer my perspective on the issue, warts and all.

I first came to MCC in 1968 and the college was an exciting place to be - new things were
happening almost daily and faculty, administration, staff, Board of Trustees, and students
seemed, at least to me, to be on the same page and striving for excellence.

At that time the college community, including the Board of Trustees, had one over arching
academic philosophy—“If it’s good for the students we’ll do it”. That was the solitary
goal and aim of the college—student success—NOT patronage or the perception of it or anything
else. They (the administration and the board) got out of the way and let us teach and tutor
struggling students, as best we good. I say “as best we could” because at the end of the day if the
student is not motivated to succeed no amount of skillful teaching or tutoring is going to help.

A case in point is:

Sometime after the Geosciences Department had formed in 1970, I had a meeting with Dr. James
P. Walsh (then Dean of Faculty) and after our official discussions had concluded (I have long
forgotten what they were) he turned to me and said—and I paraphrase “Now what can we do to
help”. When was the last time you heard that?

There was this excitement in the air because:

• We were the “new kids” on the block- U of R, RIT, neighboring SUNY colleges all
looked down on us an academically inferior institution
• We were going to work hard to disprove the myth- it was palpable—you could sense
it—every part of the college was committed to one thing--- we were going to be as good
as we could be---- little did we know that we would end up as one of the best
• Camaraderie— was in abundant supply amongst staff, councilors, faculty,
administration, librarians, and students in part because we were small in those early
years and had more informal social gatherings and discussions over coffee or lunch
• Support- although there were differences with administration and some of them quite
striking—we still had their support—or at least we thought so

During the 1970’s we lost some ground and relations with the board and the administration grew
ever more strained. But then with the arrival of President Dr. Peter A. Spina a new era began. He
brought dynamism, a positive attitude, progressive thinking, and a new vision that restored, to a
significant degree, what had been absent for so long. He led the college with style, dignity,
intelligence, realism, and grace.

I have not personally witnessed the tenure of President Flynn so I offer no comment.

But now times have changed since the 1960’s and 1970’s. MCC has grown much larger and more
complex, therefore much more compartmentalized. But you all know what you are doing and
how best to approach the art of teaching, counseling, and student success each according to their
individual personalities and philosophy.

So this essay brings us to the present—a sort of “back to the future”. In the past months the MCC
community has wonderfully and artfully articulated the issue of the board’s interference in the
search for a new president and the dangerous consequences that could result as reveled by your
presentations at the board meeting of 24 March and Professor Emeritus Robert Herzog’s splendid
Op Ed piece in the D & C. But you also have displayed a sense of unity, camaraderie, and love of
the institution that we, who were here in the early years, thought we solely owned.

We all worked hard to get MCC to the level of success and prominence it now enjoys. Today all
that we achieved is in jeopardy because of the dismal actions of some board members such as
repudiating their own committee’s recommendations for President of MCC and blatantly adding
two names to the list that were deemed by two separate and independent committees to be
unqualified. Now what message does that send to the public? What message does that send to
future potential applicants? What message does that send to you?

So what has all our hard work brought—our student success, our superior academic ratings and
national reputation for excellence ---all that we achieved locally? To what good uses will these
achievements be put for the continued betterment of the college? What value are they in the
minds of some?

I think I hear the water spiraling downward in the porcelain receptacle.