Sunday, April 25, 2004

The English Department Sees Its Mission As Paving The Way For The New World Order

The committee charged with drafting a Departmental mission statement presented a one-page draft at a recent meeting.

The draft begins:
[The Department] sees textual and interpretive skills as crucial to the exercise of global citizenship, particularly at a time in which the honest and precise articulation of ideas and values is increasingly endangered.
"Global citizenship"? What exactly do you mean by that? And you have the nerve to whine about "honest and precise articulation of ideas and values"?

Sheesh.

Not only that, but should a mission statement (which will stand, one assumes, for some time to come) be so laden with poorly-veiled references to current events?

It's no wonder nobody wants to work on this committee.