Daily Nebraskan

Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Bob Al-Greene [Click to enlarge]

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman wrapped up his annual State of the University address with two lines from the late Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa, who while on his death bed uttered, "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something important."

Well, Chancellor, we were listening, and we found what you had to say in your speech important.

Too bad not many students attended Thursday's address at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The students who complain left and right about the university but don't bother to participate in public dialogue on those issues should be ashamed of themselves.

Perlman talked for 31 minutes. He wasn't asking much for you to listen. You can redeem yourself, though. Go to DailyNebraskan.com to read the manuscript of his speech, and then join the conversation. Your voice is important.

For now, though, let's review what Perlman's voice tried to tell us.

First off, the man who has occupied the chancellor's chair since 2001 has a sense of humor. This year, Perlman managed to sprinkle a few jokes on top of his speech.

Perlman joked about how this past academic year "seemed more like a decade" because of the fair share of challenges he encountered, which included finding a new athletic director and interim directors for the Alumni Association, Lied Center and Sheldon Museum of Art.

The audience laughed when Perlman invited them to join his morning routine of waking up, exercising, eating breakfast, reading newspapers and then looking at university rankings: "If we are not No. 1, I get dressed and come to work."

We laughed, too.

However, many of the issues Perlman addressed are no laughing matter for the university, for its alumni or for its faculty and students. Here are a few highlights of Perlman's speech:

Affirmative action: Even if voters in November approve the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, which would ban racial and gender preference in hiring and admissions decisions, Perlman assured us "there will be no diminishment in our efforts to diversify this campus."

In fact, he went as far to say the university would be forced to redouble its efforts. We like the sound of that because, as Perlman also said, it's UNL's duty to provide students with a diverse educational environment and to have the faculty and student body "reflect not just the world of Nebraska but the world at large."

Continued...

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