April 4, 2022

I sent the following email to Rick Thomas, President of the Trustees, on April 3, 2022. Today he said he would forward it on to the Dean Search Committee (HughJohn Malanaphy, Anne Bollman, Calvin Harris):

–Mike Zonta, BB editor

Rick, thanks for opening up the Dean search to the broader student body.  Not sure I agree with your search committee selection.  A little too orthodox for my taste.

Glad also you are open to examining the role of the Dean’s office.  Since Thane and Jesus are not available for this position, that’s quite a list of duties.    [The Dean Search Committee is “looking for a person, a spiritual leader who can fill the role not only of administrator but of visionary, political cheerleader and spokesperson for our School.  Someone we can recognize as elevated in perception, clearly conscious of The Prosperos goals and deeply involved and committed to the task of revealing spiritual truth – one student at a time.”]

That’s why I think a more healthy, and less hierarchical, direction for the school to take would be to have the Executive Council as a whole take on this role (the role of Dean) which up to now has been fulfilled by one person.  The Executive Council has been THE decision-making body throughout the history of the school.  Even when Thane was dean, all decisions of the Executive Council had to be unanimous.  

In effect, this would be getting rid of the title and role of Dean but the duties, including visionary, cheerleader, spokesperson, etc., would be fulfilled by the all three members of the Executive Council, not a single person. 

Why should one person be the visionary or the cheerleader or the spokesperson for our school?  We all have a stake in the future of our school.

It is as a group we will grow or perish.  And being led by a group, even such a small group as the Executive Council, would be a small step in the direction of a more group-centered leadership model for the school as a whole.

Mike Zonta, H.W., M.

P.S.  If people really feel that only one person can be a spokesperson for the school, a compromise version of this idea would be to have a rotating dean among the three members of the Executive Council, like some cities have rotating mayors on a yearly basis.  As far as being a visionary or a cheerleader, that should be up to all of us.