By Charles Loiacono 

      Vestigium

             Living as we are in this new era of peace and harmony, we are taken aback at things that in the pass we would have accepted with a shrug of “What else is new?”

            But every now and then a vestige of the pass crops up to remind us that we need be vigilant lest these vestigia act to erode the cooperative relationship we now enjoy with the administration and the NCCFT.

            While in Maine, I received a letter from Dr. William Clayton relating a run-in with a vestigial policy reminiscent of the bad old days.

            A word about Bill first: He has a Ph.D. in Renaissance English Literature, has taught 17 different English courses at NCC in the last 38 years, has been widely published, has been the editor of an international music journal, and has taught advanced placement English at Garden City High School for twenty years.

That latter credit means that three months after leaving Bill’s tutelage, his students sit in the Yales and Harvards of our country with the credit they would have received for taking the course with Ivy League professors had they not had the privilege of studying with Bill. In other words, the best four-year colleges in the nation think Dr. William Clayton’s credentials meet their rather snooty demands.

Now, to the case in point:

Bill had an A student in one of his 102 classes who asked him to direct her in a project that would apply the literary principles she had learned in his 102 class to children’s literature for middle school children. Since Bill has a scholarly background in children’s literature, he readily agreed to direct her efforts. The student wrote a project brochure and Bill

            This person told the student that she could not work with Bill Clayton because he was not qualified. Why was he not qualified?

            HE WAS NOT A FULL-TIME PROFESSOR!

            The student was as outraged as Bill and refused to work with a full-timer. She had chosen her mentor and wanted to work with him. The answer was no. Bill was not considered a member of the team.

She never did the project because NCC failed to provide the support it promises the student body and the community, failed to guide an enthusiastic student to pursue excellence, and failed those middle school children that would have benefited from the project.

When I read Bill Clayton’s letter, I felt the disappointment he and the student felt. Beyond that, I was saddened to acknowledge that the bigotry of the past is the bigotry that still exists in the hearts of some. That bigotry, that partiality to one’s own group, is still practiced even if it defies reason, even if it sets up impediments to the college’s mission, and even if it threatens the postbellum pax. 

I guest that these vestiges of past policies, past prejudices, and past exclusions will show their foolish faces now and then. But, it is no longer our job alone to expose them. It is the job of the new united front. The AFA, the NCCFT, and the college administration must join forces to see an end to such divisions .