The Veterans Center fubar, part 7: Glenn's "military friendly" poster boys respond to the Minklerian narrative

Vets

     Last night’s Minkler post yielded a strong response. Essentially, we had presented (what seems to be) Minkler’s side of things, the essence of which is that a disgruntled faculty member (“hey, I shoulda got that job!”) and a core group of unruly vets (“we have created these monsters!”) have “Swiftboated” the innocent Minkler, who is in fact a competent professional with no history of inappropriate conduct.
     Let’s just say that, at this point, we have heard rather loudly and clearly from some irate veterans who insist that the above Minklerian narrative is a complete and perverse fiction:

• Minkler has certainly not been “cleared” of charges that he behaved inappropriately; on the contrary.
• Contra the Minklerians, the complaints against Minkler are serious and have necessitated his removal from the vet center; his conduct, especially with women, has been distinctly and consistently inappropriate.
• Contra the Minklerians, the so-called “core group” of vets have never been accused by students of offensive/unwelcome behavior; they are in fact respected and valued by the IVC vet community; indeed, for years, they have been the administration’s poster boys for IVC vet-friendliness.
• The so-called “disgruntled” instructor (who filed the initial complaint) would have gained nothing by having been selected for the vet counselor job (e.g., securing the job would have yielded no increase in salary); he/she applied essentially as a favor to the veterans

     At least one veteran with whom we spoke insists that the Minklerian “side” represents nothing less than administration’s outrageous attempt to spin the facts and divert attention from a bad hire (details to come, perhaps) and utter mismanagement of a once-promising center, which, until recently, attracted vets and thus impressed VIPs and inspired donors.
     The latter enterprise, he said, is now in serious jeopardy.

* * *

     For what it’s worth, I have asked around about the allegedly “disgruntled” instructor, and, thus far, I have been unable to find anyone who has anything critical to say about him/her. He/she is a “good person,” they say, not the vindictive soul described by Minklerians.
     Likely, despite HR’s tight-lipped ways, time will tell whose portrayal of “the complaints” about Mr. Minkler is closest to reality.
     At least to a degree, that is likely true, too, concerning these competing portrayals of “the core vets.”
     For now, I’ll simply observe that it is unlikely that Glenn and Co. would consistently rely on these vets for their various vet-friendly dog and pony shows—as, undoubtedly, they have done—if they were indeed the louts and Neanderthals that the Minklerian account describes.

Limber Lou confesses to some confusion about all this talk lately
about Vets. Why, he asks, are there so many Vets at IVC?