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

“Yes, I’m partnering with Wes. Dad, this is just temporary, you know, because of Professor Siemens’ murder. The thinking is that the investigation should include someone who knows the campus community…so I’m ASU’s liaison with Tempe PD.”

“Got it. And this professor who was murdered, she studies Ayn Rand, right?”

“Yes. Have you heard of her?”

“Only the stories in the paper…when ASU hired her. I was never that into Ayn Rand so I don’t know the literary critics who studied her work. I do know that during the latter part of her life, Rand was as much known for her philosophy as for her fiction. That’s why people have started reading her again…because of her economic philosophy…guess you’d say, her ideology.”

Jillian smiled. Her dad’s comments were in line with what Professor Gilroy told her about Ayn Rand’s literary standing.

The line was silent again. “You know, I think she also was involved in the McCarthy Hearings back in the 1950s.”

“Was she a suspected communist?”

“No, no, no…far from it…she was no Dashiell Hammett. Rand was a ‘friendly witness’ before the House Un-American Activities Committee. I think she was doing a number on Hollywood for being, you know, ‘pink.’”

“As always, Dad, you’re the man when it comes to English-related stuff.”

“That’s very true,” he laughed. “By the way, we’re cooking, but your mom is signaling: she wants to come on to say hi. Love you, Jilly.”

“Love you, too.”

As she cooked stir-fry and nuked left-over rice, Jillian’s mind went back to the interview with Susan Moser. Given the controversial side of Professor Siemens, the strong feelings that she’d heard from Professor Gilroy and from Professor Naremore, she was glad that the professor had had at least one really good friend…someone who missed her enough to cry over her. She also thought about the Professor’s dad.

She had a glass of wine with the meal, a French rose, compliments of her mom, and listened to Pandora. She had to remember to write a note on her calendar: ‘dinner with Mom and Dad Saturday.’ They were going to Café Forte, Mom’s favorite restaurant over in Old Town Scottsdale. Speaking of mental notes, tomorrow after work was judo class.

Jillian washed the dishes and returned to her office. She’d started a folder on ASU’s Sexual Harassment Task Force and wanted to review it. Wes was right: she’d been appointed to the Task Force when she was still at Tempe PD, and Al had wanted her to continue as a member after she moved to ASU PD.

She sorted through the folder to refresh her memory on their work to date. The ASU Faculty Senate’s new ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy was in the file—it was still a draft and under debate—as were minutes from Task Force meetings. She had printed these from a Google Doc site that was accessible by the Task Force members. The meetings were recorded and transcribed, and Sarah Wells, a lawyer from ASU’s Office of General Counsel who served as Chair of the Task Force, had seen to the availability of all relevant info. Jillian knew that Professor Siemens would come up at the meeting, so she outlined summary comments that she could share with the Committee…obviously, for now, the details about the investigation had to remain confidential.

Jillian had done some homework on the Task Force early on, beginning while she was still at Tempe PD. She had pulled newspaper clippings on related stories, some about ASU and other universities, too. She had stories from The Arizona Republic and The New York Times. Al l had made it clear when he asked her to stay on the Committee that he took this very seriously. He’d told her that he didn’t want his department to be any part of these negative news stories. “If we’re in the paper,” he’d said, “I want it to be for doing our job…and doing it right.”

Al was like Wes: both were very professional and wanted to do the job in a way that always put their departments in the best light. She knew that Al felt a professional responsibility to women who were raped or harassed, especially if they were university students and therefore under his department’s jurisdiction. He’d spoken both in public and to Jillian personally when he reassigned her to the Task Force about the ‘double victimization’ that women experienced in these cases: one, at the hands of the criminal, and another from their treatment by the criminal justice system. He’d told Jillian that he didn’t intend for ASU PD to be a part of the problem.

Jillian believed in the Task Force, too, and wanted to be at her professional best at the meetings…informed and thoughtful. She wanted to be a good cop like Al and Wes, but as a woman AND as a recent university student, she felt totally committed to the Task Force’s work. This was even more the case because of the newspaper stories that she’d read about what happened to some of the student victims, and how ill-treated they’d been at the hands of their universities and their local police departments, especially when college athletes were involved. In a way, this reminded her of the notes from Professor Naremore’s class that she’d just reviewed…about how those with resources could make sure that the law didn’t apply to in them. It wasn’t right and it was unacceptable to Jillian.

She thought that the commitment of everyone on the Task Force had intensified when the Me Too movement appeared. Now it was more than angry college students who were shining a bright light on sexism and its outcome. It was actresses and politicians and hotel workers and women in a lot of occupations who were speaking out, who were naming names, and demanding change. The Task Force Meetings had been serious from the outset, but now they had an even stronger resolve.

Jillian tended to her clothes for tomorrow. She wanted to lo look professional and she didn’t want to think about it first thing in the morning. So…slacks,