Another day, another appalling layoff
Today comes news that Oral Roberts University, Augsburg Fortress publishing (Lutheran) and the National Cathedral are all laying people off, adding a couple hundred more drops into the 10.1 million-person sea of domestic unemployment. In the case of Augsburg and the Cathedral, the cuts appear to be the consequence of marketplace changes and the economic crisis that's crippling so many other sectors of society.
The same characterization isn't perfectly apt for Oral Roberts, though:
Just days after Oral Roberts University announced that it will give former president Richard Roberts more than $440,000 in severance pay, the Tulsa school said it will be eliminating 100 jobs, about 10% of its workforce, in January 2009.“Like any business, a university cannot spend more revenue than it collects,” wrote board chair Mart Green and interim president Ralph Fagin in a letter to the ORU family. “We have a responsibility to all of you to be good stewards of our resources.”
For those who don't keep up with religious right higher education news (and I know there's at least a few of you), Richard Roberts had a rather scandal-plagued term and left ORU $55 million in debt.
There's a greater point here than "look, Oral Roberts is shafting its workers!" Incidents like this illustrate assumptions that progressives and most moderates accept but conservatives, including the religious right, tend to reject -- that the economy is amoral and often immoral, that economic well-being and poverty are not measures of one's moral fitness, that private institutions are prone to mismanagement and corruption just as governments are. There's no bright side to layoffs such as these, but I hope we can turn them into teachable moments about the economy.
Comments
As I'm one of the conservatives you likely are hoping to "teach", let me address why we may be a little dense on this issue. (Said with full sarcasm).
You are correct. Private institutions can be just as inept as public institutions. However, you completely miss the point. Public institutions are no less amoral and, perhaps, may even be termed more immoral than private institutions. In short, the market corrects itself while public institutions don't. Private institutions are exposed to market realities and therefore die. For instance, I am betting that due to recent scandals (assuming they are shown the light of day) students will be less likely to attend Oral Roberts (if only because it is now less prestigious). Absent public funding helping to keep the University afloat and the tremendous demand for even sub-standard education in this company, Oral Roberts would immediately correct the problem or die as a university. In fact, their actions in firing the current President suggest this is the case.
You say "look Oral Roberts is shafting its workers". I say, "look Oral Roberts recognized there was a problem and fired the guy". The bottom line, when people recognize there is a problem the market corrects itself. The same cannot be said of public institutions. They are neither responsive or responsible to the public at large (oh, the irony). For a pertinent example, look to the Judiciary department where attorneys were hired based on their allegiance to a political party. This happened 8 years ago and the matter still hasn't been resolved!
If you are complaining about the severance package, and it's impact on the employees, I'm quite sure that a civil suit over wrongful discharge would cost the University well over the $500,000 it paid. The University didn't bail out the former President and scratch his back on the weigh out. Indeed, it appears that the new President is quite a zealot (in more ways than one).
In summary, neither the market nor public institutions are infallible. However, the market affords an opportunity of correction... some might even say redemption. Quite simply, private institutions are more likely to reform than public institutions. One might say that this makes more "moral" than "immoral".
Posted by: William | November 25, 2008 1:00 PM
