I have made an effort to “get the other side” of the alarming story, reported here, about the new veterans counselor, Mark Minkler. The essence of that story, I suppose, is that Minkler is a disastrous hire.* Obviously, there are some who suppose, on the contrary, that he is a good hire, that something else entirely is going on here.
So what would that be?
At this point, I have spoken with a number of sources, and I do believe that I am able to answer that question on behalf of Mr. Minkler.
Here then is the other side, near as I can tell:
Mark Minkler arrived at IVC (in September) under difficult circumstances. First, there was the hiring process. The search committee had to go out twice to find candidates acceptable to the President. An internal candidate sought the job but did not get it. Instead, Minkler did.
Let’s just say that, when Minkler arrived at IVC, some people and their associates were disgruntled and directed their negatory passions at Mark Minkler.
Second, for years, young military veterans have had a presence at IVC, but a small core of active and like-minded vets have stood out. Owing to their admirable service and various other merits, this core group, with its charismatic de facto leader—a “big fish in a small pond,” some say—were given a wide berth.†
—Too wide a berth. Essentially, they’ve been left unsupervised, an unhealthy situation. They’ve pretty much had the run of the place, doing as they please, and Minkler’s arrival yielded, among other things, some long overdue push back.
At the vet center, this core group have at times created a coarse macho atmosphere that is unattractive, even obnoxious, to some vets, including female vets. Naturally, addressing this matter is a delicate business. None of us should be surprised that it hasn’t been adequately addressed and that Minkler’s arrival pushed the issue to the fore.
When Minkler arrived, some of these vets who worked at the Center had grown accustomed to using the office that had now been assigned to Minkler. Naturally, Minkler asked to use that office. In response, the vets became belligerent. There commenced weeks of hazing—objects removed, curious messages left on the whiteboard, locked doors mysteriously unlocked and opened, etc. They started mispronouncing Minkler’s name or calling him “Stinkler.”
Meanwhile, within two weeks of Minkler’s arrival, a faculty member—a certain disgruntled personage—filed a complaint against him. (HR investigated the matter and eventually cleared him.) That was followed by a series of student complaints—all filed by the disgruntled crowd.
Contrary to reports, Minkler has not sought to be protected from the vets or to be moved out of the Center away from them. The campus police, concerned about email threats to Minkler, moved him upstairs with the other counselors. In fact, Mark Minkler is well liked by the veterans he has counseled (none of the complainers are in that category). The core group has tried to poison the vet community against him, but it has not succeeded.
In truth, Minkler is not the sort to treat faculty and students badly. He has no history of such behavior.
The long and short of it is this: Minkler is being “Swiftboated.” He is not obnoxious; nor is he incompetent. He has run afoul of a disgruntled faculty member and some young men who have grown accustomed to unaccountability and who have now encountered someone who is holding them to account.
And that’s what this is all about. [END]We welcome your (thoughtful) comments.
We'll sort this out eventually.
*Readers are encouraged to remember that not all issues regarding the vet center concern the new veterans counselor.
†Some of these young men had work-study jobs. Then, somehow, they wrangled part-time project specialist gigs that tripled their pay. Some, no doubt, are hard workers; but it is not clear that all of them are.
The “Fubar” series:
