UAlbany incident a teachable moment from which UAlbany refuses to learn

I don’t purport to know all the facts in the case, but I do trust the university student conduct process and I know first-hand that President Robert Jones is an ethical and fair leader. Jones is fully committed to inclusive excellence and justice for all. He cares deeply about all members of our campus community regardless of race, standing or privilege.

Murphy, John M. "Letters to the Editor: UAlbany incident a teachable moment." Albany Times Union. March 5, 2016. http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/ualbany-incident-a-teachable-moment/34670/

"I don’t purport to know all the facts in the case" just might be one of the few truthful things John M. Murphy has ever written in connection with UAlbany. He's not the most reliable of witnesses.

[The incident] shows college officials face a real challenge in balancing the demand for immediate information with the need to be accurate. The two are not always compatible.

Nothing like a false dilemma. Jones, had he had the sense to use "alleged" or "had reported" could well have managed to be both accurate and supplying information. Alternatively, had he possessed the sense to have his office staff or the Office of General Counsel check his press release he could have likewise managed (or maybe he did and they lack sense too?).

Personally, as an educator I stand with those like Jones who have compassion for all young people and who seek to make this incident a teachable moment on many levels.

Murphy does not have compassion for all young people, or for all students. At times he's seemed something of a sadist. Aside from that, he didn't seem to have all that high an opinion of students referred to the student conduct process, even though in the US there's generally a presumption of innocence.

We will be replacing tape recording devices for serious student conduct hearings with digital recorders to preserve the records of serious hearings. The quality of tape recording is becoming suspect and given the litigious nature of some individuals it is important to preserve these records.

http://www.albany.edu/studentsuccess/assessment/docs/AR%202003-04%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Of course the student conduct process does not involve due process, so presuming innocence is probably also a quaint idea there too.

As for the incident being a "teachable moment," the lack of interest on the part of the City and UAlbany in updating the ineffective 2008 Memorandum of Understanding for law enforcement purposes suggests that the City and UAlbany really aren't all that interested in learning from it.

education is never neutral; it either maintains the status quo or advances our society.

Another false dilemma! Can it not also do harm, particularly if the educational system is abused?

I have witnessed the evolution of the university in construction, curriculum development and social justice. I am confident that our university is in good hands, thanks to the excellence of our students, faculty and administration.

UAlbany, having a disdain for constitutional rights, legal rights, rights by policy (like the series of lies that UAlbany calls the "Student's Bill of Rights" http://www.albany.edu/titleIX/title-ix-bill-of-rights.php ) really is not all that evolved when it comes to social justice. As for the "excellence" of students, faculty and administration, Murphy perhaps knows better than most just how rotten some of them are - being quite rotten himself. He's proven himself to have a rather rotten memory, for that matter.

"I believe you and I met with Mr. McNeill once before in his office a few years back." John M. Murphy, July 12, 2012

No, confabulator/memory fabricator, we didn't - as I had indicated only ten days prior (even that was too much for him to remember, apparently. I'd *written* Murphy in 2007 about some issues I thought needed to be addressed and he and his partner in crime failed to follow up, failure that he is.

"I don't mind terribly if Mr. Murphy helps you [Christine Bouchard] research my questions; I recall his name from April 2007. I never did hear back at that time if any kind of 'follow up plan' was developed between him and Mr. McNeill, though." - me, July 2, 2012

And naturally, the Times Union continues to fail to report on its relationships and its publisher's relationships with UAlbany when reporting on UAlbany.