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I am from Wisconsin, have good friends that went to the UW-LAX, and it's obviously an embarrassment and something that damages the reputation of the university.
by nickysielicki 3y ago
I am from Wisconsin, have good friends that went to the UW-LAX, and it's obviously an embarrassment and something that damages the reputation of the university. It's very simple: imagine you're interviewing for a job, they look at your resume, they see the university you went to, and think, "Oh, I was just hearing something in the news about this school, what was that about again?"
Obviously, an interviewer shouldn't reasonably hold this against a candidate, but it's in the back of their head. As a candidate, the bar to impress is made slightly higher in order to overcome that subconscious bias. One of my best friends is in this exact situation of looking to switch jobs (outside of tech, in sales) and holding a degree from UW-LAX, and he's legitimately punting his job search for a few months until this is out of the news cycle.
That's just completely unacceptable. You could be the most competent chancellor in the world, but it doesn't matter if your lifestyle choices can have that kind of negative impact on alumni. It's unbelievably selfish. If you have some inner need to publicize your sexual encounters, that's fine and well, but you owe it to the thousands of people you represent to resign from your job. The only way that I can explain this sort of blatant disregard for the impact this would have on others is that he found the risk he was taking (risk both to himself and the community he represented) to be sexually thrilling.
- andy99 3y agoI'd forgotten the university and I've been hearing about the story for weeks. And nobody would know about it at all if they hadn't been fired. So I think the reputational concerns are way overblown.
- nickysielicki 3y agoI think regionally this story is still a big deal, especially in a more blue-collar sales role.
- mattsan 3y agoYeah, people perceive and retain things much differently if its happening in the local area or if its somewhere else, regardless of how much they look into the story.
- broscillator 3y agoThis reads like a response from 60 years ago to someone coming out of the closet as gay.
- voakbasda 3y agoBigotry is still alive and well. It just changes shape over time. Puritanical condemnation of sexuality is a long standing tradition in the US. If they had their way, God would forbid anyone from sex if out of wedlock or without the purpose to procreate. Bunch of prudes, if you ask me.
- nickysielicki 3y agoWhat a stupid comment. Being gay is not a choice, creating an OnlyFans certainly is.
- broscillator 3y agoIs being a judgmental prude a choice?
- nickysielicki 3y agoIt doesn't matter what you, I, or my friend thinks about this, you can't deny the reality that some people think this is weird, and you can't ignore the possibility that someone like that might be interviewing you. Especially if you're someone working a sales job for small companies in the Midwest. It's a reflection of your privilege that this either isn't obvious to you or that you think my friend should simply refuse to work for such people.
- broscillator 3y agoHuh? Isn't the privilege to be a bigot in a position to interview people? 60 years ago you can't deny the reality that some bigot had power and interviewed people and he didn't like "fruity" men (or whatever he'd have said back then). Or the reality that he wouldn't have hired a woman. Or a black person. And somehow it's privilege to point this out? Excuse me?
- 1letterunixname 3y agoSounds like you're a conservative moralist discriminating against sexual lifestyles.
- nickysielicki 3y agoI'm just acknowledging the reality on the ground. A majority of students at UW-LAX are Wisconsinites and (I'd imagine) the majority stay in Wisconsin after graduating. Wisconsin is still a very socially conservative place outside of Milwaukee and Madison. Regardless of how you wish the world was, the world is, and it does not change the responsibility that this guy had to his students.
- vjulian 3y agoI follow you, but as you can also follow your argument could be used not long ago in America to justify firing a chancellor (or other in prominent position) for being in a romantic relationship with a black person. I can assure you that people used to find that disgusting, and a white guy in a relationship with black woman was seen as making a flamboyant choice and shoving it in people’s faces. Admittedly, when it comes to sex, my view of the US is that of a prudish and cruel cultural backwater.