Triggers Aplenty

So I survived the #me2 and Time's Up movement when it first got going. It was hard, but I made it through with a modicum of tears. This latest Dr Ford and Kavanaugh shit is leaving me pretty fucked up. I am just sad. I know what it means to not report. I've seen the effects of reporting. Hell I wrote the letters of response in some cases..." we see no clear evidence...." When it is he said/she said someone's career is more important than honesty or justice. I watched Anita Hill get before the nation and talk about the humiliating sexual bullshit she endured and nothing happened other than she became a household name. I never want to be a household name. Every instance of BS at this campus, I have seen the women who spoke up have to leave. I have seen the women who kept silent, endure. That's the way of our world. Speaking up too often outweighs the trauma of the initial incident. Women know the meaning of the term "return on investment" and "gray area"

14 Years

14 years is too long to wait for retribution. A certain university president just resigned due to an anonymous email accusing him of plagiarism. Technically the allegations are true. I recall pointing out the passages that hadn't been cited and were just plopped verbatim onto the page back when I saw the dissertation. At the time I was pissed by his laziness, not just with the dissertation, but with all of the other writing he had done through the course of acquiring his degree. I was pissed and disappointed in many of his then failings as a human being. I won't go into the details. But 14 years is too long to wait to make this public.

Now it is just tacky to bring up this sort of failing. I will pause to say that I don't feel this way about everything - actual crimes that harm people should be punished no matter how much time had passed. In this case, the man's contributions and successes after this degree should far out-measure his laziness back in the day. It is only because of his success now that this is even an issue. If he didn't have the smarts and skills represented by the degree, he would not have gotten to the point where this sort of allegation could be so damaging. I can't see continued laziness being rewarded for this long. I just can't.

I know I didn't turn him in. I think destroying his career this far out is inviting some serious bad mojo or karma.   But now I am going through the list of folks I know who knew, and wonder. Who did it? What was the motivation? Was it G who is now retired and is full of the need to right past wrongs? Was it A who is in the midst of his own success? What made this come up now?

Did someone hate him so much that they decided the moment he had his dream job was the right time? And it was his dream job - the pinnacle of his success as he defined at the beginning of his career in higher ed. He told lots of people that one day he would be President of ---. And he's done it. Only to have it ripped from his grasp. What sort of person holds on to bad feelings this long? I am glad that I got over it. I can't imagine holding on to that sort of toxicity. Not good for anyone. 

Follow Up on Match

So, I heard back a few weeks later that while I was a viable match after further testing, my match was no longer eligible for treatment. That could be good. It could be bad. I hope that he was responding well to his treatment and no longer needed my cells. I am not convinced, but it could have been and I will never know.