COLUMN: Chodorow learned from mistakes

From Eric Goldstein's, "Upon Further Review," Fall '97 From Eric Goldstein's, "Upon Further Review," Fall '97Stanley Chodorow may be the most misunderstood person at Penn.From Eric Goldstein's, "Upon Further Review," Fall '97Stanley Chodorow may be the most misunderstood person at Penn.For those who have only heard the Penn provost speak at official University events or have read his quotes in The Daily Pennsylvanian, he comes off as a Scrooge-like character who, if he had his way, would squash the voice of students and implement a medieval judicial system. In truth, Chodorow's public persona couldn't be more different from his private one. After getting burned early in his tenure at Penn with some off-the-cuff remarks that angered students, Chodorow became guarded. That was a tragedy, as many Penn students will never know his quick sense of humor. One anecdote that sums up Chodorow's personality: Last year, Chodorow agreed to serve as a "guest Swami" for the DP's weekly Ivy League football prediction contest. In the feature that accompanied Chodorow's picks, it was suggested that the provost, by joining the Swamis, had finally become a social elite at Penn. The story provided a grocery list of reasons why he was not previously an elite, including the fact that he "never dated a Theta." The next day, Chodorow left a message at the DP saying: "Not only did I date a Theta, I married a Theta!" Unfortunately, Chodorow will best be remembered for some remarks he made about student representation on undergraduate education committees in fall 1994, his first semester at Penn. "The problem with student participation is that many of them don't have much time," he said. "It's not as if students are the best-organized people in the world." Many student leaders took Chodorow's comments both as an insult and as an excuse to exclude students' voices from important policy discussions. Three more controversial decisions followed over the next few months. In February 1995, Chodorow proposed a new University judicial system that emphasized efficiency. In describing the plan, he said the changes in the process were "not about fairness, but about effectiveness." Indicative of this goal, the new system would not allow advisors to accused students from speaking at any hearings. The accused were also not allowed to speak unless directly questioned by the hearing board and were not allowed to call their own witnesses. They weren't even allowed to cross-examine the University's witnesses. Furthermore, students were not presumed innocent; it was up to them to prove themselves to be guilt-free. This understandably sent students into an uproar. Then, in January 1995, Chodorow and University President Judith Rodin made a bold decision and scrapped plans for a new student union to be called the Revlon Center in favor of renovating Houston Hall, Irvine Auditorium, Logan Hall and Williams Hall to form the Perelman Quadrangle. Plans for the Revlon Center, which was to be located at 36th and Walnut streets, had been underway for more than five years when Chodorow and Rodin decided to switch directions. Many students complained that starting new plans from scratch meant that a whole new generation of Penn students would miss out on a real student union. Others argued that the Perelman Quad was a cop-out and would not be a significant improvement over current facilities. Some even suggested that the new plan was just a way for the administration to use Perelman gift to renovate old buildings instead of putting it to its designed use. The final straw for many was Chodorow's handling of the Reserve Officer Training Corps controversy. The debate centered around the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prevents openly gay people to serve in the armed forces. Many in the Penn community complained that the rule, which ROTC abides by, violates the University non-discrimination policy. University Council, on two separate occasions, voted to recommend that Penn sever its ties to the program, unless an "arm's-length" agreement could be reached with the U.S. Defense Department. After negotiations with the Pentagon failed to produce any such agreement, the heat was on Chodorow to make a decision. Finally, after months of secrecy, he finally stated that the University would continue its current relationship with ROTC. Even those who agreed with Chodorow's eventual decision criticized his handling of the situation. At first, it may seem strange that any university would want someone with that track record as its new president. But Chodorow made all those mistakes in his first year at Penn. More importantly, he learned from each and every blunder. The backlash from his original judicial charter led Chodorow to address the complaints in a new proposal that emphasized justice over expediency. Many students are still skeptical over the usefulness of the Perelman Quad and have complained about its lack of facilities for student use, particularly performing arts space. But an ambitious shopping center, the Sansom Common, is currently being constructed on the proposed Revlon site. The new complex is expected to address many students' complaints about the lack of dining and shopping options on Penn's campus. In general, Chodorow has been much more open to student input in the past 2 1/2 years than he was a freshman provost. In fact, last November, he even created a new Undergraduate Advisory Board to provide recommendations relating to the 21st Century Project. He is also one of the few administrators who actually seems to prefer engaging in academic discussions over policy-making. In fact, he has made it a point to continue teaching a class on medieval history even with his duties as provost. As Chodorow moves on in his administrative career, he must continue to remember his early mistakes, because, he still falls back on his old ways at times. Consider, for example, his handling of the recent announcement of the implementation of a college house system at Penn. On the day of the announcement, he marched student leader after student leader into his office to warn them of the new plan. After 15 minutes, they were sent on their way and a new student was brought in. There was little time for discussion, and any student opinion was moot anyway because the decision had already been made. When Chodorow leaves at the end of the semester, possibly to take over as president of the University of Texas at Austin, he will be missed by many -- including many students who he at first alienated. There aren't many people who could shift a discussion about Ivy League soccer to a history of federalism in the Middle Ages and then quickly go back to a story from his days as a Cornell goalkeeper, all the while actually proving a single point. Many students have never forgiven Chodorow for his early mistakes. But Chodorow has learned as much in his 3 1/2 years at Penn as the students whose academic careers he has overseen. Should he be named the next president of UT-Austin, then about 50,000 Longhorns will gain the benefit of Chodorow's mistakes at Penn.