It is not the best of times; it is not the worst of times.
It is a time for President David Schmidly to set aside aphorisms - especially those that invoke decapitated autocrats - and speak plainly to his employees.
Yes, employees, not subjects or serfs. But also, and especially, not family, as Schmidly and those who back him continuously claim when pandering to angry staff and faculty members instead of answering their questions.
It is a pity that the family analogy was even supported by two prominent student leaders at the Board of Regents meeting earlier this month. Ashley Fate and Christopher Ramirez stood together, crying out for peace and goodwill between the administration, faculty and staff. Their plaintive speech drew applause from almost everyone in attendance, and each person who spoke afterward hopped on board with heartwarming words about the UNM family, reminding each other that all they do is for the students.
This is a farce.
The truth is that Schmidly and his ilk have long been calling for "unity" on campus, and they do so because it is in their best interest.
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The CEO of this University would like for everyone to think he operates under a Theory Z style of management - where he cares about his employees as unique individuals, sees himself as one of them and follows the Golden Rule to the letter. But in fact, Schmidly does not take the bus with staff and faculty. He does not eat lunch with them in the SUB, and he does not remember their children's names.
In fact, he works with the regents and the office of Business and Finance to "maintain the core mission of the University," and tracks performance using numbers. It's time for the administration to own up to the truth that they actually work in a classic Theory X model.
But University employees must do the same. Do staff and faculty really want Schmidly to descend from Scholes Hall, come into their classrooms and ask how their day is going? Do they want him to talk about their kids' soccer games, or even hire them for $94,000 a year?
And honestly, are the University administration, staff and faculty really making demands of each other out of love for students?
This is a business, not a family. As management, Schmidly, David Harris and Jamie Koch must not count on or appeal to their employees' unconditional love, forgiveness and support. That is what our homes are for - not the workplace. And we need the workplace to function as such in order to maintain our homes.
Regent Carolyn Abeita was the only rational voice to break through the cozy scene at the regents meeting. She said UNM community members should act with character, not as characters.
One can only hope that Schmidly will heed this advice and avoid a spectacle similar to the December forum.
And we hope that you will attend today with a pen and paper and earnest questions, as we will, and not with laughter and bags of popcorn.
