Look Who’s Coming to Lecture
by
Diane M. Calabrese
WHAT DOES A presidential candidate do after winning the
popular vote but losing in the electoral college? This fate
befell Andrew Jackson in 1824. He returned to his Tennessee
plantation, The Hermitage, worked his slaves hard and reminded
everyone who would listen of his military exploits in the
War of 1812 and of his success at opening lands to white settlers
by killing the Native Americans who had lived there. The strategy
worked. Cerebral John Quincy Adams was no match for Jackson,
who coasted to the Oval Office in 1828 with the slogan: “Would
you rather vote for a man who can fight or a man who can write?”
Another Tennessee native, Al Gore, faced Jackson’s predicament.
He may yet emulate King Andrew, as critics dubbed him. But
for the moment, Gore has chosen a more prudent course: life
as a visiting scholar. He accepted a position at Columbia
University’s School of Journalism in January, 2001, where
he teaches part-time and visits his daughter and grandson,
according to CNN.
“This is a special opportunity for the school,” said Tom
Goldstein, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism.
“Al Gore will be an incomparable resource for our students
and others at this university. From his unique perspective,
students will get to see how government and the press intersect.”
He may also be an incomparable resource for the media, which
flocked to his first lecture on February 6. Although he said
little to reporters and is not granting interviews, noted
Jeremy von Noss, assistant to Gore’s press secretary, the
former Vice President smiled and waved to the cameras, looking
professorial in his sweater, tie, and tweed jacket. The only
item missing from this ensemble was a pipe, but here again
Gore’s judgment was impeccable, for a pipe might have led
people to believe he was courting the tobacco barons. However,
he knows it is not too soon to begin posturing for 2004. If
Old Hickory could rise from the ashes of defeat, why not Gore?
Gore’s course, a non-credit seminar for students studying
national-affairs reporting entitled Covering National Affairs
in the Information Age, met six times that spring and may
be offered again in spring 2002. The question is whether Gore
can squeeze it into his schedule. He is also visiting scholar
at Columbia’s new Institute for Child and Family Policy, where
he focuses on family and community development.
“This past spring, we got a great start on this new course
and on the curriculum for family-centered community building,”
said Gore in a press release. “It was a great learning experience
for me and I think for the students as well. I’m looking forward
to making it an even stronger experience this fall as we launch
a full year course.”
This fall he will shoulder a larger teaching load at Fisk
University and Middle Tennessee State University and will
continue to be a research professor at UCLA, where he won’t
teach but instead will conduct research symposia on families
and communities. Gore is not the only busy visiting scholar.
Oprah Winfrey co-teaches Dynamics of Leadership, with Stedman
Graham, at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management,
in addition to her duties as chair of the Harpo Entertainment
Group and host and producer of the highest-rated talk show
in television history. The course met ten times in three-hour
blocks during the fall 2001 quarter at the Evanston campus.
Enrollment topped out at 100 students, a success that has
led Northwestern to repeat the course this fall.
“Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential business executives
in the world and is a wonderful addition to our faculty,”
said Kellogg Dean Donald Jacobs. “Our students are thrilled
about the new course, and we feel that both she and Mr. Graham
will offer insights on leadership and entrepreneurship that
will enlighten our students.”
With all these celebrities, it’s refreshing to know that
common folk still teach at universities. Remember Lamar Alexander,
the Republican presidential hopeful in 1996 and 2000 who,
with his plaid flannel shirts, looked like a lumberjack from
the Pacific Northwest? He now teaches at Harvard University’s
John F. Kennedy School of Government, though it’s tough to
tell how much of a commoner he is. His net worth of more than
$6 million, according to Real People for Real Change, a political
action committee, and work as a Washington lawyer and lobbyist
in Senator Howard Baker’s law firm, Tennessee governor, president
of the University of Tennessee, Secretary of Education, and
member of the Board of Directors at Lockheed Martin stamp
him as more patrician than plebeian.
As Secretary of Education, Alexander promised to “break the
mold of schools,” a pledge he may have a chance to fulfill
at Harvard, where he is Roy M. and Barbara Goodman Visiting
Professor of the Practice of Public Service, announced School
of Government Dean Joseph Nye in January 2001.
“This is a delightful opportunity to work on the ideas I
care about the most,” Alexander said.
Last spring he taught a course on the presidential campaign,
and he is now assembling students and faculty into teams to
study education and the principles that form the American
character.
“Because of his wealth of experience in education and his
commitment to public service, Lamar Alexander serves as an
inspiration to our students,” said Nye, who cited Alexander’s
role as chairman of Simplex, a San Francisco company that
helps schools save money by buying supplies on-line and chairman
of the Salvation Army Initiative, which helps families move
from welfare to work. Perhaps we can all take courage from
his example and aspire to be visiting scholars. After all,
the life of a visiting icon is quite a step up from the life
of an average adjunct faculty member.
