June 9, 2021

Coming out of the pandemic, there have been lots of articles and op-ed pieces about how higher education will change, must change, can change.  I can't help but wonder if our industry is too resistant for such necessary change.

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We destroy the foundation,

Break up the cemented,

Raze the retainment,

To finally level our bases.

We're on a mission to block the admissions,

Admonish the committed,

Drain the coffer of all residuals

Kept under distinguished panels.

We grunt while we're granted

The halls and the grounds,

By degrees we are honored

To punch right through our niches.

We wheeze while we breeze

As the whole structure freezes,

Admiring our augers, our borers,

But ignoring the lasting affliction.

So we wonder why outsiders

See only black eyes,

The blood red frame of our pupils

With their stooped gaits.

We're likely to call them out

In our halls and on our walls,

Emptying our chambers

Of our jackhammered causes,

Spraying what's been fragmented

Across our quads and our bodies

Formed from accreditation blessings.

In a moment of crisis, our strength has gone missing.

I have no coda for this demo,

Just lines and limes serving as my camo.