David Fleming
It's All Academic   www.davidflemingsite.com   
12 Angry Profs

February 18, 2011: 12 Angry Profs

After watching the brilliant movie 12 Angry Men yet again last night, I'm tempted to suggest the higher education version of that movie:  12 Angry Profs.

Summary:  12 Tenured Professors sit in a conference room determining the fate of a tenure-track colleague, a woman whose deconstructionist feminist field is either disconcerting or unintelligible to most of the "jury."  Eleven jurors have voted not tenure, with one solitary Middle-Aged Mathematics Professor voting for tenure.  Heated discussions ensue that eventually show the danger of biases and preconceptions about scholarly fields as well as tenure, the impact of personal feelings in such decisions, and the tenuous nature of "evidence" in the tenure documentation process.  The mixture of male and female jurors here is not important, although the Lee J. Cobb and Ed Begley characters lend themselves to the last bastion of the old white man dominance.

 

List of Characters (With the actor from the famous 1957 movie to help readers picture each character)

Juror #1 (Martin Balsam character) Middle-Aged Pharmacy Professor

Juror #2 (John Fieldler character) Young Nursing Professor

Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb character) Older History Professor

Juror #4 (E.G. Marshall character) Middle-Aged Law Professor

Juror #5 (Jack Klugman character) Young Literary Criticism Professor

Juror #6 (Edward Binns character) Middle-Aged Psychology Professor

Juror #7 (Jack Warden character) Older Education Professor

Juror #8 (Henry Fonda character) Middle-Aged Mathematics Professor

Juror #9 (Joseph Sweeney character) Older Sociology Professor

Juror #10 (Ed Begley character) Older Medieval Literature Professor

Juror #11 (George Voskovich character) Middle-Aged Engineering Professor

Juror #12 (Robert Webber character) Young Marketing Professor

 

Think about how the scenes might develop.  The early challenge to the one dissenter:

Juror #8:  I just want to talk.


Juror #7:  What's there to talk about?  Eleven of us in here don't think she should get tenure. No one had to think twice about it except you.

Juror #10:  I want to ask you something.  Do you accept her latest documentation?

Juror #8:  I don't know whether I accept it or not.  Maybe I don't.

Juror #7:  So how come you vote for tenure?

Juror #8:  Well, there were eleven votes for no tenure.  It's hard to send a woman off to her professional death without talking about it first.

Juror #7:  Well, now, who said it was easy?

Juror #8:  No one.

Juror #7:  What? Just because I voted fast?  I honestly think she doesn't deserve tenure.  Couldn't change my mind if we reviewed her materials for a thousand years.

 

Juror #8: I'm not trying to change your mind. It's just that... we're talking about somebody's career here. We can't decide it in five minutes. Supposing we're wrong?

And later:

Juror #8:  I just think we owe her a few words, that's all.

 

Juror #10: I don't mind telling you this, mister: we don't owe her a thing.  She had a chance to provide everything , didn't she? What do you think this process costs? She's lucky she got it. Know what I mean? Now, look - we're all tenured professors in here. We saw the facts, didn't we? You're not gonna tell me that we're supposed to support this woman, knowing what she researches. Listen, I've shared offices among them all my career - you can't understand a word they say, you know that. I mean they're born bullshit artists.

After a secret vote shows a second person has voted for tenure:

Juror #10: All right, who was it? I wanna know.

Juror #11: Excuse me, this was a secret ballot. We all agreed on that. Now if the person wants it to remain secret . . .

Juror #3: Secret? What do you mean secret? There are no secrets in tenure debates.  I know who it was. [to Juror 5]  You really are something, you sit here vote no tenure like the rest of us, then some golden-voiced preacher starts tearing your poor heart out about some marginalized field of study, just couldn't help becoming a deconstructionist feminist, and you change your vote. Well if that isn't the most sickening... Why don't you drop a quarter in his collection box!

 

Juror #5: Oh now just wait a minute, listen, you can't talk to me that, who do you think you are? 

Juror # 4: Now calm down, calm down! 

Juror #5: No, now who do you think you are? 

Juror #4: It doesn't matter, he's very excitable, just sit down. 

Juror #3: Excitable! You bet I'm excitable. We are trying to put a sub-par academic in the place where she belongs, and then someone starts telling us fairytales and we're listening! 

When those supporting tenure ask to see how the candidate's student evaluations compare with others:

Juror #3: What do you mean you want to compare her evaluations with others? Why didn't her dean bring it up if it's so important? 


Juror #5: Well, maybe he just didn't think about it, huh? 


Juror #10: What do you mean didn't think of it? Do you think the man's an idiot or something? It's an obvious thing.

Juror #5: Did you think of it?  


Juror #10: Listen smart guy, it don't matter whether I thought of it. He didn't bring it up because he knew it would hurt her case. What do you think of that? 


Juror #8: Maybe he didn't bring it up because it would have meant exposing weak evaluations of those with tenure. You know that doesn't sit very well with a tenure review board; most deans avoid it if they can.

And later:

 

Juror #8: It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures fairness. I don't really know what fair is. I don't suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the woman is worthy of tenure, but we're just gambling on probabilities - we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a weak colleague get free, I don't know. Nobody really can. But we have reasonable documentation, and that's something that's very valuable in our system. No tenure committee can turn down a person's tenure unless it's SURE. We nine can't understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.

When those supporting tenure challenge whether the candidate has a reputation for reporting to Human Resources politically incorrect speech:

Juror #8: There's something else I'd like to talk about for a minute. I think we've proved that the dean couldn't have heard her say "I'm gonna report you," but supposing. . .

Juror #10: You didn't prove it at all. What're you talking about? 

Juror #8: : But supposing he really did hear it. This phrase, how many times have all of us used it? Probably thousands. "I could report you for that, sir." "Junior, you do that once more and I'm gonna report you." "Get in there, Rocky, and report him!" We say it every day. That doesn't mean we're going to report anyone. 

Juror #3: Wait a minute. What are you trying to give us here? The phrase was "I'm gonna report  you." The woman yelled it at the top of her lungs! Don't tell me she didn't mean it. Anybody says a thing like that the way she said it, they mean it.

When those supporting tenure question the accusation by a student that the candidate cursed at students in class:

Juror #8: Here's what I think happened: the student got angry at our colleague. Then, when he's left the classroom, he calls his alumnus father, tells him that our applicant used foul language at him, the daddy alumnus called the President, and assumed his son was telling the truth.

Juror #6: I think that's possible. 

Juror #3: ASSUMED? Professor, I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. Y'all come in here with your hearts bleedin' all over the floor about marginalized fields and injustice; you listen to some fairy tales; suddenly you start gettin' through to some of these cowards. Well, you're not getting through to me, I've had enough! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU GUYS? You all know she's not worthy. She's got to learn! You're letting her slip through our fingers. 

Juror #8: Slip through our fingers? Are you her executioner? 

Juror #3: I'm one of 'em! 

Juror #8: Perhaps you'd like to tell her to her face? 

Juror #3: For this woman? You bet I would! 

Juror #8: I feel sorry for you... what it must feel like to want to tell her to her face. 
[baiting him] Ever since you walked into this room, you've been acting like a self-appointed academic snob! You want to see this woman out because you personally want it, not because of the facts! You're a sadist! 

[Three lunges wildly at Eight, who holds his ground. Several jurors hold Three back]
 
Juror#3:  I'll report him! I'LL REPORT HIM! 

Juror#8: You don't *really* mean you'll report me, do you?


When the discussions reach the key moment when the last dissenting voter has to own up to his own personal feelings:

Juror #3: It's these young faculty - the way they are nowadays. When I was an assistant professor, I used to call my mentor, 'Sir'. That's right... 'Sir'. You ever hear a newbie call his mentor that anymore?

Juror #8: Professors don't seem to think it's important anymore.

Juror #3: You got any mentees? 


Juror #8: Three. 


Juror #3: I got one. Twenty-nine years old.[takes photo from his wallet and shows it to Juror 8]  Aah. When he was twenty-six years old he refused to challenge the President. I saw it; I was so embarrassed I almost threw up. I said, "I'm gonna make a faculty member out of you if I have to break you in two trying". And I made a faculty member out of him. When he was twenty-seven we had a fight. Told me to stick to the classroom. He became an administrator. Haven't talked to him for two years. Mentees . . . you work your heart out . . .

 

And later:

Juror #7: Well, what do we do now?

Juror #8: [to 3] You're alone. 


Juror #3: I don't care whether I'm alone or not! It's my right. 


Juror #8: It's your right. 


Juror #3: Well, what do you want? I say she's not worthy. 


Juror #8: We want to hear your arguments. 


Juror #3: I gave you my arguments!


Juror #8 : We're not convinced. We want to hear them again. We have as much time as it takes. 


Juror #3: Everything . . . every single thing that it is in this review portfolio, but I mean everything . . . says she's unworthy. What do you think? I'm an idiot or something? Why don't you take that stuff about the dean; the dean who supervised her and heard everything? Or this business about the diversity committee! What, 'cause we found one exactly like it? The Dean SAW her. Right there in the Commons. What's the difference how many pages it was? Every single thing. The diversity committee ending as soon as she joined . . .you can't PROVE she didn't get to the President! Sure, you can take all the time comparing student evaluations, but you can't PROVE it! And what about this business with the student? And the articles! There's a phony deal if I ever heard one. I betcha five thousand dollars I'd remember the journals that turned down all my articles. I'm telling you: everything that's gone on has been twisted . . . and turned. This business with the peer reviews. How do you know she didn't plagiarize? This man's statement is on the books! And what about hearing her yell . . . huh? I'm telling you, I've got all the facts here . . . [He struggles with his notebook, throws it on the table. The photo of him with his mentee is on top] Here . . . Ah, Well, that's it - that's the whole case! [He turns towards the window as the other jurors stare at him] Well . . .say something! You lousy bunch of bleeding hearts. You're not going to intimidate me - I'm entitled to my opinion! [He sees the picture of his mentee on the table] Rotten mentees . . . you work your life out! [He grabs the picture and tears it to pieces. He suddenly realizes what he's doing] [Breaks down] Tenure.  Tenure.