To the Editors:
Upon reading the opinion piece "President Mills should also be Professor Mills" (September 9, 2011), the unfounded and incoherent nature of the author's argument troubled me. Regarding the author's desire for a course on leadership, the author should refer to the "Leaders and Leadership" (IDEP220) course given by former Governor of Maine Angus King. As for his second request, "a demonstration of President Mills' vision of the liberal arts," it is clear that this vision has been outlined explicitly in numerous forums such as convocation, baccalaureate addresses as well as the Bowdoin Daily Sun. If these forums are not enough, maybe the author could seek out President Mills' thoughts during his office hours.
Most significantly, the author uses his piece to present criticisms of President Mills. Even if these criticisms represent noise that the author has heard, he substantiates these criticisms with the suggestion that President Mills does not completely embody the values of "fresh and dynamic learning" due to his background. The intimation, which the author clearly makes, that President Mills has not embodied and safeguarded the values of Bowdoin and the principles of the liberal arts education with the utmost distinction, is baseless. Under President Mills, Bowdoin has improved in a myriad of metrics, including academic ones. Consequently, the author's unrefined approach in evaluating this subject is clueless and disrespectful.
Sincerely,
Hugh Fleming '10