Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar by Gray Cavender (classic literature list txt) 📕

she had expected from his photo…maybe in the tenor range. Sometimes, he sounded clear and authoritative…sometimes, like just now, a little shaky.

“Dr. Siemens, I saw a picture of Milton Friedman in one of your daughter’s offices…was he her mentor in the MBA program at The University of Chicago?”

“Not exactly…Friedman had moved on to Stanford by the time Nelda was studying at Chicago…although they did meet…though the Philadelphia Society. That’s an organization, Detective Sergeant Warne, that fosters conservative and libertarian intellectual ideas. Nelda became a member early-on in her MBA studies. Anyway, that’s where she and Friedman met. Later, she did have an intercession course with him—this was an intensive two-week seminar, as I recall—actually it was at Stanford. And based on her performance in that seminar, Friedman agreed to be a guest member of her MBA committee…Nelda’s always been a good networker. I had the sense that Friedman was intrigued that Nelda was working on an MBA while also getting her PhD in English. Plus, I think it was the Rand connection and their libertarian ideas…Rand’s and Nelda’s.”

Jillian seemed to be on a roll with Dr. Siemens so Wes motioned that she should continue to ask the questions. “We been speaking to her friends and colleagues, and they’ve said that Professor Siemens was single. Is this correct?”

“That’s correct, yes. Now, when she was a grad student, Nelda was engaged to a young man who was in her MBA program...he was working on his JD/MBA. Sylvie was thinking that Nelda would marry a lawyer…maybe they’d move back to LA. We liked him: he was a nice guy and seemed to love Nelda…and he shared our politics. We thought they were serious.”

Jillian asked, “So what happened?”

“A career thing. Grant had an offer from a solid Chicago firm, I mean a very good offer…one he couldn’t pass-up. And, while there would have been some university jobs in Chicago for Nelda, they just weren’t of her caliber. So, when the Mount Holyoke offer came through, she broke it off…her call…and never looked back. We totally understood.”

“And his name was Grant?”

“That’s right, Grant Everett. Far as I know, he’s still at the same Chicago firm.”

“Dr. Siemens, it’s Wes Webb again. If I may, I’ll like to change topics a little.”

“OK.”

Jillian noticed that Wes was again looking at the photo of Dr. Siemens that she printed. It was almost as if he was speaking to the photo.

“Again, Detective Sergeant Warne and I have been talking with your daughter’s friends and colleagues. Incidentally, your daughter had good friends, and colleagues who respected her. Nevertheless, they did share with us certain controversies…ranging from creating the Ayn Rand Center in the first place, to run-ins with students more recently. Can you talk us through this?”

“Sure. Obviously, I don’t know what office politics are like in your profession, Detective Sergeant Webb, but in universities—and this is both in general, and in departments in particular—sometimes it’s like internecine warfare. Universities can be an especially hostile environment for principled libertarians. I experienced it throughout my own career, from my grad student days up and until the day I retired. And sad to say, Nelda has had her share of run-ins, too. And what was her great sin…it was that she wouldn’t tolerate any of the politically correct discourse—discourse AND policies—that’s endemic to universities these days. I know…there were a couple of complaints from disgruntled students…claiming all manner of alleged horrors that she’d unleashed upon them…including, of course, playing the race card. Be let me assure you, both of you…Nelda absolutely was NOT a racist.”

As he spoke—his anger seemed to have revived him a bit—Jillian recalled reading the actual grievance that the English undergrads had filed. She also recalled Grace’s comments about Professor Siemens. But, she didn’t give voice to these recollections. Wes was quiet, too, content with letting him talk.

Dr. Siemens continued, “The problem as I see it is that university students today can’t appreciate the rather significant difference between being a racist and being opposed to affirmative action programs. They’ve somehow conflated the two. And that put Nelda on a collision course with them. She is rigorous—we demanded that of her in her thinking—and always looking for the best students. Her view was…if you can’t compete in a gender-neutral or a race-neutral class, take some else…take some feely touchy class. Nelda’s classes never pretend to any kumbaya moments. Again, detectives, that how Sylvie and I raised her…that who Nelda is…at her very core.”

Wes said, “OK, I see…thank you for that. So, mentioned that she’d been a professor at Mount Holyoke. Could you tell me about her move to ASU?”

“You bet. Just as I described her move to Mount Holyoke as career move, so was her move to ASU. She was doing well at Mount Holyoke—she’d made Associate Professor with no difficulty—and was, I think happy there. Then, ASU recruited her to head the Rand Center. At first, I think she was only mildly intrigued with the possibility—truth be told, she was mainly using ASU’s interest to get a salary bump—but after she interviewed…I could tell that her attitude changed, markedly. ASU really wanted her, so much so that Nelda could essentially write her own ticket…a significant increase in salary, an expedited promotion to full professor, and in terms of the day-in-day-out of her university life, basically it was ‘whatever you want.’ She was especially pleased that she had a joint appointment in Business AND an office there, too. I think her negotiations on this was brilliant…that’s what comes from being the daughter of a successful attorney AND a successful academic. She knew what she wanted…she knew how to get it.”

As he spoke, Jillian recalled how several of the people they’d interviewed mentioned that all these ‘perks’ that the Professor had negotiated were a source of resentment to her colleagues. She wondered…

Wes continued, “I expect that her successful salary arrangement helped Professor Siemens afford such a nice condo.”

“Yes, it did. Although…Nelda was always smart about money. Sylvie and I put her through