Critical Discourse Analysis of a "College Forum"

[This was the post I was told to remove/unpublish]. Considering that a) it's an actual account of a public meeting where b) the Texas Open Meetings Act would validate all my account except the c) sardonicism, which is my First Amendment right to hold even if it might reflect poorly on my maturity, I re-post it here as an academic and intellectual inquiry. Read at your own risk.]

"...culture and education aren't simply hobbies or minor influences. They are hugely important in the affirmation of differences between groups and social classes and in the reproduction of those differences" (Pierre Bourdieu, "The Intellectual Class Struggle," New York Times, Jan. 6, 2001).

After the current semester began, the faculty and staff began to receive multiple emails about a "College Forum" to be held, with breakfast and that all are invited. First, as I tend to do, some etymology:

college (n.) 

"body of scholars and students within a university," late 14c., from Old French college "collegiate body" (14c.), from Latin collegium "community, society, guild," literally "association of collegae" (see colleague). At first meaning any corporate group, the sense of "academic institution" attested from 1560s became the principal sense in 19c. via use at Oxford and Cambridge.

forum (n.) 

mid-15c., "place of assembly in ancient Rome," from Latin forum "marketplace, open space, public place," apparently akin to foris, foras "out of doors, outside," from PIE root*dhwer- (see door). Sense of "assembly, place for public discussion" first recorded 1680s.

Unfortunately, this was not a college forum seen from the perspective of either word. First, no students were invited to this gathering. They received no texts, e-mail messages, no posters, no request from the administration to faculty to invite the students. Somewhere there's an irony that since so many of our students can't actually afford breakfast, this might have been a great way to provide a simple breakfast burrito to students for the beginning of their day, but that irony was overlooked.

So, it wasn't a college forum because the students were invited. Neither was it a forum in any sense of the word because it was instead a highly scripted, closed-door meeting with a public marketing agenda to dispense unidirectional information , with no opportunities for discussion or dissent. As can be seen in the following Twitter feed log, those in some administrative capacity took the microphone and controlled the marketing presentation for the whole time. Even when a faculty member did speak, it was in the place of his simultaneous quasi-administrative role and not as a faculty of students within the classroom. Instead, department heads used the (past the time limit) free time to "thank" and "praise" their own departments, but not the students.

The entire meeting was framed within an uncomfortable Van Halen them of "Jump." First, to remind us what Van Halen was and to remind us of the actual energy of "Jump," this video:

You already know that no group of mostly white, middle aged, south-east Texas community college administrators in a conservative county like Harris are never going to be able to replicate that energy ... though I can't criticize the better clothing choices made in 2014.

My tweets, including responses to a few followers, during the meeting. I've added an ordered list for readability:

1. College Forum at LSC -- North Harris. Pre-meeting music is Van Halen's "Jump."
2. This is not going to be good. Don't like being treated like a child or a plastics salesman at a Las Vegas convention.
3. Ah, Van Halen is looped. So, we get to hear "Jump" over and over and over until someone takes over. 4 minutes late already.
4. Always helps to blow loudly and repeatedly into a microphone to check if it works. It's the repetition that makes technology effective.
5. "Oh can't you see what I mean ? / Might as well jump. Jump ! /Might as well jump. /Go ahead, jump. Jump ! /Go ahead, jump."
6. "You say you don't know, you won't know until we begin./I ain't the worst that you've seen"...how does this relate to the college's mission?
7. The president interrupts Van Halen.
8. First item: breakfast still available.
9. President says we have happy faces. "Are you in a happy mood?" I feel like I'm watching PBS early morning.
10. First item, Super Star Awards, goes to VP Kolar for overcoming registration issues "with a smile."
11. Introduction of new employees. New librarian/info specialist applauded.
12. President praises "most beautiful library."
13. Sheldon Moss from Victory Center introduces new staff and faculty.
14. "Educational Talent Search" chair ... what the heck is that? Some new X-Factor show?
15. New ORIE (institutional research) analyst hired. Thank Zeus.
16. @RayMatthew Speak up, brother.
17. Now Van Halen's music referenced. We're celebrating the "jump start" to our "late start" program. Applause.
18. The institution praises itself. No student voices are included.
19. The discourse is all positive. No horror stories from students included in the narrative.
20. [response to student, tweeting] Nope. They weren't. Apparently students are not part of the college. One third of the Conference Center used. Two parts not used
21. [response to student, tweeting] In fact, have the students had any invitation to speak to the new President or the VP's?
22. Long, non-linear narrative of ... unsure. Storytelling is a lost art.
23. Leadership crowding for photos. Crowd laughs. Photos are funny.
24. Narrative mentions numbers of students, but not student stories, voices.
25. More names and bodies (not students) added to the heroes circle.
26. [response to student, tweeting] Don't be enraged. Be engaged.
27. [response to student, tweeting] Precisely. Administrators controlling student bodies, but ignoring student bodies and voices. Not unique to LSC, but still...
28. A complex narrative of administration is being composed before an approving audience, with no dissenting narrative.
29. The discourse sees students as numbers, bodies to fill classrooms. Nothing stated about student situation/experiences/background.
30. This narrative is honestly no different than Volkswagen discussing a production line. Resources, objectives, production numbers.
31. Heroes circle now about 20 people. Still no students included.
32. Faculty are asked to stand in the heroes circle, but I'm staying seated. I've already been accosted by one, thinking I'm a reporter.
33. Now "everyone" asked to stand up. The narrative of unity and collaborative success is ... [redacted]
34. Finally the staff, including custodial staff, are recognized. Thank you. Really, thank you.
35. The goal to be met, apparently, is 100% enrollment. No mention of effective andragogy, class sizes, etc.
36. Crowd is now being asked to jump on count for photograph. No one jumps. Sad. Embarrassing.
37. Feel like I'm in ninth grade, being told by cheerleaders to rally around my football team. Jump.
38. In between sessions, more Van Halen. I think most of the people here are too young to appreciate Van Halen.
39. Police department now thanks for "safety," a 24 hour a day job. I don't disagree, but the comments lack a discussion of student rights
40. Now 2014 bond referendum addressed. Previous bond election (May 2013) failed closely
41. Oh, apparently being warned that we'll be taught later what I'm not permitted to say about the bond.
42. History of North Harris -- 1973, 613 sudents, 3 districts, 160,000 population, 256 sq miles.
43. The narrative is that the school districts came together. Ignores W. W. Thorne's politicking.
44. 2014: 11 districts, 82,818 credit students, 2.1M population, 1,400 sq miles, 6000 employees, $330M budget.
45. 2014-15 state funding 23%, tuition 34%, property 3? %.
46. Current property tax abt .11/$100; rhetoric of "very economical" property tax.
47. Graphic with tax rates. Current rate lower than 15 years ago. Current bond includes no tax increase. Board voted to reduce by 7%
48. Graphic of LSCS property tax valuation vs state average -- runs .05 to .30, with LSCS around .11, Texas avg around .16
49. Praise of economizing by administrators.
50. LSCS 2nd largest community college in Texas. Average comm-coll abt 5,500 students. "We grow a new comm-coll" almost every year.
51. More bar charts. All charts showing growth. We get it.
52. Audience quiet. Yawning. Death by Powerpoint.
53. 1/4 high school students attend LSC in the Fall. 8000 high school students in dual credit. 75% all #Texas freshmen attend community college
54. In service area high schools, 10x choose LSC over UH, 6x over TAMU, and more than big 7 Texas public schools combined.
55. Economic impact $3.1 Billion (spending money, pay taxes, buy homes).
56. Students add $2.8Billion to local economic impact.
57. Workforce education comes up next -- before academic education.
58. Crowd restless, many not paying attention, looking at phones.
59. The rhetoric is now "people retiring," so community college needs to replace technical and middle skills jobs.
60. 63% of jobs in Houston require more than high school education. "We fit the bill."
61. LSC trains 60% of all health care workers in area, graduate 84% emergency first responders.
62. LSC Associate Degree graduates earn 25% more than high school grads = $500,000 lifetime earnings.
63. LSC North Harris a "Center of Excellence" in Automotive, HVACR, Health Info Tech, Industrial Diesel, commercial construction..
64. LSC North Harris needs workspace renovation in Diesel Tech and Paramedics/EMS
65. LSCS has AAA bond rating. Last 2 bond referendums did not increase tax rate. "We will not sell bonds if we are not growing" (rhetoric of #s)
66. We're told to remember: 9% workforce growth/5 years. 176,000 new residents since 2010. LSCS 8% growth since 2008.
67. "Strong workforce=strong Community" -- rhetoric of education to prepare for labor, not for the liberated citizen.
68. [I am SO doing the @SaintArnold pub crawl tomorrow. Will need it. Might do it twice.]
69. Campus projects: 1) Advance Tech Workforce Center, 50,000 SF; 2) New instructioanl Bldg 60,000 SF; 400 new parking spaces.
70. No mention of public transportation for students who can't afford cars.
71. New entry road from Richey. This means Cash County Line bar will be what students see when they leave.
72. Board elections: Pos 3 = Alton Smith; Pos 4 = Art Murillo; Pos 9 up with Ken Lloyd, Lamar Casparis, Dom Bongiorni
73. Murillo pronounced "murilo" like "yellow" -- no acknowledgement of his heritage.
74. Now we're being told what we may/not do: without advocating a position 1) we can make presentations about the bond election/board election
75. Now we're being told what we may/not do: without advocating a position 2) we can share info on college media
76. We cannot urge or advocate a yes/no vote on trustee or bond issues.
77. Cannot urge class time to advocate for a position. Cannot distribute materials on campus on a position.
78. Cannot speak as an employee on behalf of the college system.
79. Oh, we're going to jump again in a minute. That's encouraging. I'm looking forward to more jumping.
80. Administrators recognizing administrators. Like the Academy Awards. No students mentioned.
81. Meeting closing down with self-accolades.
82. The rhetoric of praising each other -- somehow this infrequent applause substitutes for fair wages and benefits.
83. Every group seems to be acknowledged. Polite applause. ... Oh, now more groups being praised. HR not getting warmest response.
84. OMG. More groups being asked to stand to be recognized. This is as bad as Mother's Day or Valentines Day -- such fakery.
85. Sad photograph of Student Center bldg ends slide presentation. No grown trees. No students. No solar power sources.
86. [Professor-Administrator] speaks, announces LASO kick-off of Hispanic Heritage Month. First mention of students' voices all morning. FIRST TIME.
87. So many announcements. "I'd like to recognize ..." Why do we need to recognize people in public? Is this some means of public guilt?
88. #neverendingmeetings Educators love to hear themselves talk.
89. Seriously, this meeting cannot end. Some Kafka play.

Some generalized observations:

First, yes, I know I'm a cynic, but that cynicism has been nourished because of this very kind of discourse -- that college, especially community colleges, are about the welfare of local businesses, and not for the students themselves. Not only were students not invited to the "forum," but their voices were completely silenced from the discussion that ostensibly affects them and their futures most. I'm a cynic. Get over it.

Secondly, notice how so much of the conversation is completely framed positively, as if everyone did everything right at every time in every place. What was not mentioned is that the primary reason for this emergency re-scheduling fracas was because approximately 3,000 students were dropped from the rolls for non-payment on a date that was too early. This comes from multiple -- unofficial -- sources, but mostly from students themselves. I've had dozens of conversations and then more dozens of grumbles from the classroom from students who recount horror stories of finances [read financial aid] for this semester. Students crying in my office; students texting me, asking for help in negotiating the bureaucracy, students simply disappearing because they lost their enrollment position in my courses. The crisis, if I can call it that, was never mentioned. Only the super successful solution was mentioned. It's like watching the last five minutes of Star Wars Episode IV -- the Throne Room scene -- where everyone, including Chewbacca -- is all smiles, and not knowing that there was this thing called the Death Star only a scene before. [Have to show the scene now, excuse me]

[Dang! Carried Fisher was so young. And while we're on it, why does Luke laugh when R2-D2 shows up? Doesn't he know that it would be repaired anyway? And why is R2-D2 late to the biggest social event of the day? What was it doing that made it late? And yes, I refer to droids as "it," not genderized. See what you do with that.]

Seriously, the meeting felt like that -- accolades everywhere, smiles, applause. But no mention of context. Apparently the Rebel Alliance is composed mostly majordomos and mechanics. No civilians. Try that for a metaphor.

Thirdly, the meeting was so quant-centered. Numbers, numbers, everywhere, especially about growth, taxes, buildings, etc. The sad persistence rate of students from year to year was not mentioned. The enormous dependency on "developmental" courses [ie, non-credit courses such as pre-Algebra, developmental writing, etc.] was not mentioned. The graduation rate was not mentioned. The lack of student activity in community civic engagement was not mentioned. The rhetoric of the meeting was wholly meant to justify the institution's existence for itself. Words like "factory" could be substituted for "college," words like "customer" could be substituted for "student," and the meeting would make as much sense rhetorically. The discourse of the institution in this meeting was one hundred percent about maintaining its own existence for another year or five years. We were sitting in a shareholders' meeting. That's all. Amazingly, ideas like improved pedagogy, smaller class sizes, up-to-date technology in classrooms, effective student mentoring, etc. etc., were not included in this meeting.

I left depressed, walking by dozens of students on the way back to my office, thinking that they had no idea of the meeting, no idea what the institution is doing without their knowledge, no idea how to be involved in their own futures, because the institution continues to silence student voices, continues to make decisions based on a vocal yet minority business environment, continues to misconstrue the learning needs of poverty- and working-class students because these students don't have the time or economic means to participate and have been effectively disenfranchised from their educational-economic futures through a micro-managed public education which unfortunately continues to the community college.

Bourdieu, one more time, explaining why this rhetorical disenfranchisement of students works so well:

The most successful ideological effects are those which have no need of words, and ask no more than complicitous silence (Equisse d'une Théorie de la Pratique. (trans) 188).

Would like to see a real college forum some day. Where college students come together and have that face-to-face forum with administrators and faculty, all equal voices. No more throne room scenes. No more jumping. Just civil engagement among all stakeholders. Metaphor ends there.

Be strong, and courageous.
Dixi et salvavi animam meam
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