Guilfornliam
Vol. LXV, No. 15
Hiring of spouses questioned
by Mark Gurley
The presence of fourteen
married couples working either
on the faculty or within the
administration of Guilford Col
lege has recently given rise to a
growing concern among several
professors and employees.
Worries about conflicts-of
interest, and even charges of
nepotism, have been expressed
by those dissatisfied with what
they feel is a dangerous insensi
tivity to the issue on the part of
the college. However, others
refute these charges and stress
the positive benefits which mar
ried couples bring to the school.
Beth Keiser, chairperson of
the English department and
wife of religion professor, Mel
Keiser, sees a correlation be
tween Guilford's Quaker heri
tage and its sensitivity to the
needs of married employees.
"I think there is probably
some connection between Guil
ford's history of leadership and
service from married men and
women, and the pattern of
ministry in the Society of
Friends which affirms the
equality of the sexes. The
Society of Friends has an aston
ishing record of travelling min
istry from married women sup
The Quagmire Nuke Plant
A glowing report
by O.L. Backer
The huge dome was even
more ominous-looking from
close up. I had been looking
forawrd to my special invitation
to visit Nuke Power Company's
new Quagmire Nuclear Plant,
as an excuse to avoid going back
to Washington. Now that I was
here, though, I felt a little like a
holy roller who'd secretly had
his hand in the church's cookie
jar, and was now called up
before the judgement seat.
The designated PR chief, a
slick Madison Avenue clone
named Tweadle, met us at the
gate with a broad smile. "Rev
erend Backer!" he beamed
"I've heard so much about your
sermons on the wondrous heal
ing powers of plutonium I want
you to know how much we
appreciate your spreading the
truth among the ignorant.
"We think you'll enjoy your
visit here, and really get caught
up in Nuke Power's Quag
mire."
"that's what I'm afraid of,"
muttered my acolyte, who was
standing behind me and peer
ing up nervously at the dome.
"Eh?" said Tweadle. "May I
meet our other guests?"
ported by their families," she
said.
Keiser also pointed out an
other positive aspect of working
with her husband. "Working
together as a couple at Guilford
has benefitted our family life as
well as our professional life,"
she says.
Robert Williams, professor of
economics, emphasizes another
advantage of hiring couples.
"Guilford is not a very well
known institution, and Guilford
is not a very rich institution.
"The only way nepotism can be justified at
Guilford is to assume that the college is so cor
ruption - ridden that nepotism contributes to in
stitutional symmetry." -Louis Fike
Therefore, if Guilford wants to
maintain a first-rate faculty, it
has to offer something more
than money or prestige. If the
school stops hiring couples, it
gets rid of a card Guilford can
play in attracting first rate
faculty." Williams' wife, Char
lotte Rosenthal, had worked at
the college, but her position was
recently terminated.
Other employees in the ad
ministration vigorously deny
charges of nepotism and see no
"This is my acolyte, Ms.
Green," I responded, stepping
aside and rewarding her for her
tact with a scowl. "And this is
my newest convert, Abdul
Khassan, formerly of the Pales
tine Liberation Organization."
Abdul spoke up. "my people
could benefit greatly from plu
tonium. The materials from
your plants could heal many
parts of the Middle East. Like
Israel." His grin was not plea
sant.
Tweadle looked a bit nervous
at this, but brightened as he led
us through the gleaming halls of
the plant. "I'm sure you'll want
to see the control room Our
bright young engineers stand
ing constant watch over the
workings of Quagmire. Human
hands and minds manipulating
the power of the peaceful
atom "
"Can we see the routes and
schedules for transportation of
your spent fuel rods?" asked
Abdul.
Tweadle ignored him and
ushered us into the control
room "Notice the screens dis
playing ongoing data on all
functions of the plant," he said,
continued on page 2
Guilford College, Greensboro, NC 27410
conflicts-of-interest currently
occurring Bud Place, comptrol
ler of the college, says that
there is no policy of hiring
spouses currently in effect.
"There have been no positive
steps by the college to hire a
husband and wife team. Rather,
Guilford has considered only
the individual being interview
ed for the job," says Place He
also asserted that the married
status of couples did not affect
their salaries. Place acknow
ledged that he was aware of the
hiring practices in effect only
since he himself has been hired.
Ellen O'Brien, English pro
fessor and the spouse of religion
professor, Joe Groves, stresses
Guilford's support for married
couples.
"Guilford was much more
concerned with me as a whole
person, as someone who has
relationships. And people here
were concerned with helping
Joe and me find a comfortable
situation which included recog-
- - | ||||M M
Berlin
David Bromberg delighted a near capacity crowd in Dana Auditorium Saturday night with his
picking and singing. Accompanying Bromberg were Gene Johnson on the mandolin and Jeff
Wiser on the fiddle. Also appearing was the North Carolina group, Missouri Hogshead.
nizing his need for some kind of
professional outlet," she said.
O'Brien believes that the
college is aware of the potential
for abuse and will prevent such
abuse from occuring "As a
Quaker community, we ought to
be able to expect from our
members the integrity to forsee
and avoid these dangers," she
concludes.
President Rogers strongly
disclaims all charges of nepo
tism. "I do not think Guilford's
hiring of couples should be
deemed nepotism because nep
otism implies misuse of power
through illegal and covert em
ployment of one's relatives
under principles which override
equal access and objective
judgement about criteria and
candidates for the position. I
think that each member of the
Guilford faculty is dedicated to
operating professionally in such
a way that their decisions would
not accrue to the well-being of
their spouse," he says.
However, Rogers agrees with
Guilford's Provost, Bruce Stew
art, that Guilford needs to
examine the issue more thor
oughly. Stewart believes that a
balanced commitee investiga
tion would be appropriate.
February 17, 1981
"I think it would be useful for
the Facility Affairs Committee
to carefully examine both the
positive and negative dimen
sions in the employment of
spouses, and to delineate a
policy that will help to maximize
the positive and minimize the
negative." He says that "the
school should spell out what
constitutes conflict-of-interest
and the expectations it engen
ders when it occurs."
Attacks on the hiring of
married couples at Guilford also
resound in the faculty and
administration
Dr. William Burris, political
science professor and former
Academic Dean, commented on
the issue. "In this matter, the
very appearance of a conflict-of
interest should be avoided.
Therefore, the earlier 'practice'
of not hiring members of the
same family should not have
been abandoned." Dr Burris
did not wish to comment fur
ther.
One employee, who declined
to be identified, asserted that
intimate relationships in the
faculty could possibly lead to
"unholy alliances", resulting in
block voting and "unwittingly
continued on page 3
Photo by Randy Rosenthal