Sun shining, no protests for graduation

(Instagram image)

We certainly were blessed by nice weather for the UMM graduation. That is always the first hurdle to get past for our august institution. Seems that too often, festivities have been forced inside. So the sun was out and everyone's mood was buoyed on Saturday. 

I could cite another hurdle the institution had to get past. Would there be protests here in connection with the Israel/Gaza thing? Or Israel/Gaza tragedy? Will our USA actually release a ton of money so Israel with its iron-fisted leader can commit genocide? You know what Israel needs? Or let's just say it would help: a woman leader. Well, Indira Gandhi was no shrinking violet. 

I saw no sign of protest on our UMM campus yesterday. Seemed as if there was overriding joy. 

UMM made it to the end of the academic year without the kind of disastrous headlines that came for St. Cloud State recently. And it's not as if this was the first-ever batch of dreary headlines for the school in the dead center of the state. SCSU is in a vital city in the direct center of the state but it is under siege with shrinkage. 

UMM? Is it safe to say we survived the flurry of controversy caused by the Steve Sviggum remarks? You know, Steve Sviggum, an old elder statesman of Minnesota politics who had fallen into a regents' role like some other (washed-up) well-known Minnesota pols? Wendell Anderson? Dean Johnson? And then Mr. Sviggum who said the Morris campus might have "too much diversity?" 

Many of us knew what Sviggum meant or what he was getting at. But holy cow, what a bear with boxing gloves in choosing how to express himself. A few weeks later we got the headlines that he had "resigned." Our media needed some coaching on precision with reporting, n'est-ce pas? Sviggum had only resigned as Regents vice-chair. He did not resign from the body. I was aware of people having been confused by that. 

The Regents' chair at the time was this fellow last name of Powell. Powell at the meeting in question certainly should have prompted Sviggum to "clarify" what he said. Heh heh.

Kristi Noem is being prompted to clarify her recollections about whether she did or did not meet with the North Korean dictator. So pathetic: she just dodges by suggesting that the media is "after her" by asking. It is harder for Noem to clear up the story about her dog.

We can never rule out that the South Dakota governor is still included for consideration as GOP VP pick. Never. And it does not even matter that the presumptive presidential pick has criticized her harshly. That's because logic has nothing to do with what is happening in the GOP today. It's as irrational as you can possibly imagine. So what is America's education system doing for us? When you consider what Trump did his first time around and what he'll do next time? When you consider his basic image as it comes through in the media? 

Our churches will be filled today (Sunday) with people who are blindly loyal to the Orange Man. They will see him as an extension of their faith. This does not apply to three churches in Morris: my church of First Lutheran, Faith Lutheran and Federated. As for the others, I think the situation has been sad. Are the parents asking their children to say a prayer to Donald Trump before they go to bed? I wonder. 

But can I vote for Biden? Would be hard to do especially if he keeps approving measures to support Israel. Times have changed and Biden has missed the boat. I totally admire the Jewish people - the people - while I seek to condemn the Jewish state of Israel. Am I among those who feel Israel does not have the right to exist? Not as a religious state anyway? Yes. We may be headed toward laws in this country that would make this opinion an exception to the First Amendment. I wonder how this would be enforced. 

Many of the Palestinians are Christian. Shouldn't the U.S. evangelicals show greater caring for them? But I guess the hardcores view Israel as the fulfilling of Biblical prophecy. 

 

We've lost the band

UMM graduation is not what it used to be. The musical element has fallen off of course. There is literally no UMM band. We always used to take the band for granted for graduation. 

A choir was present Saturday to sing the Star Spangled Banner. That's a tough song to sing: a too-wide vocal range. I was present and it appeared there was a vocal group doing a number after the degrees were presented. It was a low-key tune and I didn't see the regular UMM choir director. Of course I don't know all the details about what goes on at UMM these days. 

I was pleased with the weather and pleased there was no protest disruption. Even if I agreed with the protest, this would not be the time and place. I sensed a definite atmosphere of joy and celebration - what graduation is all about. 

I began my day at the mid-morning brunch at the dining hall. A very nice buffet-style meal for $12. Thanks. I did not see a single person I knew. I have really fallen out of the Morris social orbits. Whether it's the rich folks or poor folks - "Po' Folk" according to the singer Bill Anderson - I just don't know many people any more. 

My sense of isolation continued into the actual ceremony. The big exception was when the opening processional happened and Sandy Olson-Loy saw me and extended a greeting. Thanks for that. A volunteer offered me a chair to sit on. Thanks for that. 

Frankly I am starting to get tired of the Native American ritual chanting and drumming. Someone told me this was featured at Veterans Day too. I take a risk in opining anything negative about this. Native Americans are a big part of what UMM stands for now. 

I'm not sure the trappings of the old traditional Indian way of life need to be trotted out so much. The Indians were not such a peace-loving people in the days before the "foreigners" came, were they? I listen to the chants with drums and it sounds to me like a "war chant." A blood-curdling war chant. 

I'm sure UMM advocates will say we need sensitivity to all cultures. That's one way of looking at it, but only one way. The alternative way? The alternative way would be with the term "melting pot." We have our ideals and we all learn to blend together in a benevolent contemporary culture with shared values. There was a time when the melting pot attitude almost took over in America. But in academia, the enthusiasm wasn't so great. 

Academia felt the melting pot was too easy a concept to understand. And academic people are not paid to say things are simple. They are paid to suggest that everything is so tough, hence the need for "professors." 

Surely there will be fewer professors at St. Cloud State now. It's impossible not to think that the SCSU nightmare as it were could come here. 

Jeff Ettinger

I wonder what all this Ettinger fellow has stored in the back of his mind - his knowledge about what likely is down the road for the U. Ettinger gave a good enough speech Saturday. He's the interim president of the U. Noise from a flagpole was a problem as the wind came up. 

 

Cinema scene

I remember the movie "Taps" in which the head of the military school announced the school's impending closure at graduation. Remember George C. Scott? I had a wild fantasy for a moment that Ettinger would do the same on Saturday. "It is with a heavy heart" etc. 

Well it certainly did not happen. The possibility has to be entertained when one considers what is happening in St. Cloud. You'd think the State of Minnesota would have a system that would obscure the drastic nature of cuts sometimes. Deflect attention, whatever. Instead the headlines seemed to scream "all hell is breaking loose." 

But it hasn't happened in Morris, yet. We haven't seen the "smoke signals" yet - an apt way of putting it, based on our Native American flavor. 

The Native American Honor Song could be a tribute to UMM's present, whereas the "UMM Hymn" could be performed as a tribute to UMM's inception. I was present on the mall just like yesterday when UMM had its historic first graduation in 1964.

 

 Addendum: My favorite Indians were the ones in "F-Troop."

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com