A University of Richmond Trustee recently got himself in hot water. Part of the 1%
club, he was at a secret meeting of high earning and powerful wall street
professionals when he made highly inappropriate remarks and gestures about gay
people and women (Stripling, 2014). His
name: Paul B. Queally. His crimes: Stupidity, ignorance, and bigotry. Yes, everyone
has the right to free speech according to the first amendment (1791). What people forget is that there are
consequences for every action and behavior.
Queally and his wife have contributed over $20 million to the school from
their personal bank account (Stripling, 2014). Does that monetary contribution
afford them special treatment? I would say yes because the university did not
address the action (Stripling, 2014). Instead, the university issued a press
release saying they hold true to their values and know their board of trustees
do to (Stripling, 2014).
Really?
Queally has yet to apologize for his actions. (Stripling, 2014). His
press release boiled down to saying that people who know him, know he isn’t a
bad person (Stripling, 2014).
Once again, really??
There is too much to unpack from this article between the trustees
actions and comments, the existence of this secret elite society, and the
university’s response. Even the title of the article is misleading as the trustee
is not “under fire” by anyone who has the power to do anything. Sure, the
students are outraged, some faculty might be upset, and I’m sure Queally’s
family has been slightly inconvenienced. My guess is that this story will go
away with the next signature to grace another check to the university.
The comments section was certainly on fire. My two favorite comments from
others who read this article were:
“Folks are missing the forest for the trees. The problem is
not with this particular individual or university. The problem is with the
1%-ers who laugh at the rest of society while reaping obscene profits. Last
year, 40 hedge fund managers pocketed nearly $17 billion. The joke is on the
rest of us. These profiteers do not share the values of a just and diverse
society as reflected in their secretive fraternal world.”- early
“I think we all know that if these remarks had been made by
a faculty member or an administrator, that person would already be long gone -
or, at the very least, on indefinite leave while an investigation is being
carried out. Bottom line: make lots of money before making stupid, bigoted
remarks. Then you'll have more "totality" as an individual (if by
'totality' you mean $$$)” -22178056
I couldn’t have said it better. So I’ll stop there.
Retrieved Feb 21, 2014
U. of
Richmond Trustee Is Under Fire for Gay Jokes
By Jack Stripling
Men were dressed in leotards, wigs, and gold-sequined
skirts, swilling alcohol and laughing at jokes about gay people. It sounds like
the sort of scene that, if captured on tape, might get a fraternity kicked off
a campus. But it was actually an induction ceremony for a secret society of
high-powered financiers, whose members include a prominent University of
Richmond trustee.
Paul B. Queally, a board member at Richmond, is in hot water
over a recent New York magazine article
that features a recording of Mr. Queally telling what some have called
homophobic and sexist jokes. The tape was recorded clandestinely by a reporter
at a 2012 meeting of Kappa Beta Phi, an underground fraternity for the Wall
Street elite.
The release of the tape and accompanying article,
"One-Percent Jokes and Plutocrats in Drag: What I Saw When I Crashed a
Wall Street Secret Society," presents a real dilemma for the University of
Richmond, a private liberal-arts institution that bills itself as a tolerant
and open environment for gay and lesbian students and faculty and staff
members. (The article was adapted from Kevin Roose’s new book, Young Money:
Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street’s Post-Crash Recruits [Grand Central
Publishing, 2014].)
Mr. Queally, a private-equity executive, and his wife are
among the university's most generous financial supporters. They have given the
institution nearly $20-million, and they have been honored in turn. A
33,000-square-foot addition to the Robins School of Business building bears the
family’s name, as will a new
admissions center.
During his recorded speech at the fraternity event, Mr.
Queally made jokes at the expense of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former
secretary of state, and Barney Frank, the former Democratic congressman from
Massachusetts who is one of the nation's most prominent gay political figures.
The joke about Mr. Frank, which involved a phallic allusion to hot dogs, played
on Mr. Frank’s sexual orientation.
In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Frank questioned whether it
was appropriate for Mr. Queally to serve on Richmond’s board.
"I’ve never heard of the guy, and he does not sound
like somebody I miss not knowing," Mr. Frank said.
"He certainly doesn’t sound like the kind of person I’d
want to have running a university," he added. "On the other hand, a
bigot is a bigot, no matter what his job is."
‘In the Spirit of the Event’
Mr. Queally did not respond to an interview request on
Thursday, but he released a statement that has appeared in numerous news
articles.
"My brief remarks were in the spirit of the event, but
they do not reflect my views or my values," he said. "On reflection I
should have said nothing. I understand that people who do not know me or my
work may misinterpret what I said. I believe my record in support of education,
diversity, and economic advancement defines who I am and what I stand
for."
Richmond’s board rector and president have also issued
statements espousing their commitments to diversity. What none of them,
including Mr. Queally, seem to have done publicly, though, is to condemn the
remarks or to overtly apologize for them. That did not sit well with Mr. Frank.
"If they were serious about those sentiments in those
statements, they would have expressed their sharp disagreement," Mr. Frank
said.
Some Richmond students have also been left wanting by the
university’s official statements thus far. Yaz M. Nunez, an officer with a
campus organization for gay and lesbian students, said she was particularly
unsatisfied with Mr. Queally’s statements.
"He says he doesn’t believe the things he said. That’s
because he got caught," said Ms. Nunez, co-facilitator of the Student
Alliance for Sexual Diversity. "It’s time the students demand respect and
accountability."
Wesley J. Meredith, who is also a co-facilitator of the
alliance, said that he was concerned about whether Mr. Queally could genuinely
identify with the needs of a diverse student body, given his wealth and the
company he appears to keep in a secret society of Wall Street tycoons.
"He's the money-bags guy from Monopoly,
essentially," Mr. Meredith said.
A Second Controversy
Questions about Mr. Queally's sensitivity to gay and lesbian
issues surfaced again this week, when the university's student newspaper
uncovered a comment the trustee had made in a Facebook photo caption. Under a
picture of a man in a leaf-print garment, Mr. Queally wrote, "Petey in his
fag jacket," The Collegian reported.
Mr. Queally was compelled to issue a second statement when
contacted by the student newspaper.
"The lesson I learned is that there is no situation or
context, public or private, where it is appropriate to make an ill-considered
remark in an unwise attempt at being humorous," he said. "In today’s
world there is no place for any remark under any circumstance that implies a
lack of tolerance. It is my life’s work in education and support for diversity
which defines who I am and what I believe. Those who know me understand
this."
Despite an outcry
from students and alumni, the university has given no indication that Mr.
Queally’s position as a trustee is in jeopardy. The board’s bylaws, however,
state that a majority of trustees can remove a member for any action "that
may negatively reflect on the university."
Jeffrey B. Trammell, a board member of the Association of
Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, said that trustees should not
make knee-jerk decisions about dismissing a member.
"You don’t just say, My board member made a really
offensive, stupid joke about women, and therefore we’re going to kick him off
the board," said Mr. Trammell, a former rector of the College of William
& Mary’s board. "That’s not the proper way to handle it. The proper
way is to look at the totality of the individual."
Mr. Trammell, who describes himself as Virginia’s first
openly gay college trustee, found Mr. Queally’s remarks "highly
inappropriate." At the same time, he said, board members are entitled to
free speech.
"A university does not have the job of policing the
words of trustees," Mr. Trammell said.
Edward L. Ayers, president of the University of Richmond and
a member of its board, did not respond to an interview request on Thursday. In
his only public statement, he told The Collegian that "the board
wholeheartedly shares our values and understands the special responsibility
trustees have for exemplifying the principles that are so central to our
mission."
Mr. Ayers, a prominent scholar of the Civil War, has been
outspoken on civil-rights issues. As the president of a college situated in the
former capital of the Confederacy, he has criticized
Richmond’s tendency to gloss over the brutal history of slavery. On the issue
at hand, though, Mr. Ayers has said little.
- See more at:
http://0-chronicle.com.innopac.library.unr.edu/article/U-of-Richmond-Trustee-Is/144941/#sthash.89ur8cuu.dpuf
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