His death was officially listed as gangrene. His liver was placed in a jar in a medical center, where it stands to this day as an example of an ideal healthy liver. As the Aesopean fable shows, the health of an institution and society s health may be different things. Administrators normally confuse their institutional goals with society s and believe in a non-profit version of What s good for GM is good for the country. In the course of institution building all administrators find it expedient to pretend that the interests of their institution and of the larger society are identical.
Academic administrators are no exception.
They think the university only exists because of their presence. Therefore, whatever is good for us is good for humanity. Or as someone else has said, Greed is good. This is not a simple or harmless conceit. All you have to do is join the club.