Going sentence by sentence, starting at the very beginning:
"The Paideia Institute, whose mission is to teach the ancient Greek and Latin languages and to promote the study of ancient Greek and Roman civilization..."
Set up #Paideia with a mission immune to critique... /2
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"...has recently been the subject of much criticism." ...and *then* mention the "criticism" - in reality, very serious allegations of
#harassment and#discrimination- to make it seem instinctively like a bad thing for the field. Passive voice for extra dismissive tone. /3Show this thread -
"The Paideia Board of Directors welcomes criticism and affirms its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and will undertake to address what have been identified as real and persistent problems." They avoid admitting to any
#abuse and are dismissive of the "identification." /4Show this thread -
"It is clear that in developing over the course of a decade from a very small beginning into a robust and wide-ranging enterprise..." Self-aggrandizement as they use this kind of language to define the context, rather than any critical analysis of an
#abusive environment. /5Show this thread -
"...Paideia has made mistakes and misjudgments." In the same sentence minimizing the issue as "mistakes and misjudgments," PLUS the fact that combining this with aggrandizement makes everything seem oh so easy to sympathize with. /6
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"In some instances Paideia’s leaders, who have demonstrated remarkable commitment to the Classics, particularly to serving those who traditionally had little or no access to the Classics..." More self-aggrandizement, followed by total denial of the problem.
#Gaslighting /7Show this thread -
"...have been insensitive to the feelings of individuals both inside and outside Paideia." Starting with this minimizing language here, yes. Then identifying it as something that only impacted "individuals," rather than entire
#marginalized demographics. More#Gaslighting /8Show this thread -
"For several months now Paideia has been working to address these concerns." ...As if we're wasting their time. This *might* be an accidental result of the flow of academic writing, but they haven't earned
#BenefitOfTheDoubt they're used to - also a relevant issue.#privilege /9Show this thread -
"Initiatives have included hiring a consultant to give staff members and teachers an opportunity to have their concerns heard with all fairness" Consultant's bio includes commitment to lifting up "marginalized whiteness."
#racism Not all consultants are correct for this job. /10Show this thread -
"...creating an employee handbook of policies and procedures" Can that be made public please? It's been made with help from the consultant described above and without input from the people harmed, so I have some concerns.
#discrimination /11Show this thread -
"...forming an HR committee that has received and acted upon reported concerns and grievances." Then why have those committing
#harassment and#discrimination not been fired? If they have been acting upon the reports we should be seeing some major shakeups. /12Show this thread -
"Director Georgia Nugent and the HR Committee are working with Paideia’s leadership to establish best possible practices in Human Resources for the organization." Who is on this committee? How do these practices relate to the handbook which is somehow already done? Confused. /13
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Still re last sentence: What actions have been taken, and how are they related to the recommendations for
#BestPractices? So much that doesn't fit together here - this is a collection of#buzzwords. /14Show this thread -
"The Board will also seek to interview former members of the Paideia staff who would like to offer their views on their experiences at Paideia." This essentially puts the burden on victims of
#abuse to come forward publicly without#anonymity, or be dismissed... /15Show this thread -
And it will look okay to a casual observer because "we have them a chance to be heard fairly." No. They've spoken up already, privately and publicly. Putting more burden on these people is wrong. Period.
#VictimBlaming#Gaslighting /16Show this thread -
"We will soon announce a search for an executive officer to take responsibility for the day-to-day operations of Paideia. In the meantime, we expect in the next week to name an interim person to take this role." Is this person replacing someone? Unclear relevance. /17
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"This individual will report directly to the Board, and will do a comprehensive review of operational practices and make recommendations for changes." Again, this sounds great but doesn't have much meaning given statements above. They say they've already done most of this. /18
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"Paideia is committed to increasing its diversity, both on the Board and in positions of leadership." Numbers, please. The Board is going to have to expand or some people are going to have to step down. Who and when? A verbal commitment means nothing at this late point. /19
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"Over its ten years of existence, the Paideia Institute has done much to enhance the teaching of ancient Greek and Latin, and has served students of all ages and backgrounds." No. That's the *whole point*. People of all backgrounds are not equally served.
#Gaslighting /20Show this thread -
"Many individuals and organizations have recognized that achievement and expressed their gratitude for it." Ah. And this is supposed to
#invalidate criticism by other members of#marginalized communities.#Gaslighting /21Show this thread -
"We hope to continue that record, and to work effectively with all interested parties in making the study of classical humanities vibrant and significant in today’s world." ...Insinuating that if we don't want to work with
#Paideia we must not really care about our field. /22Show this thread -
There are *maybe* two sentences in this that aren't packed with manipulative language. This goes beyond
#Paideia. It's dismissive, invalidating, and insulting to the concerns of#marginalized classicists. CLASSICS FOR ALL OR NOT AT ALL.#Classics4All /23 /endShow this thread
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