Insult to Injury

When the economy soured, the institution where I work lost a large portion of its endowment. The powers that be got together, decided how much money each department needed to give back and then left it to the department chairs to decide how and where they would get that money. I don't envy the decisions that our chair had to make and, being as objective as I possibly can, I understand why she made the decisions she did.

But that didn't stop me (and a large portion of my department) from getting angry this morning over what greeted us as we walked in the department. On the counters immediately below the departmental mailboxes (located just outside the main office, in a central, public location) she had placed 3 copies of a sign up sheet. For what were we to sign up for?

To buy coffee as part of a fund raiser to help her kids (and others in their high school) go on a trip to France.

Really. I wish I were kidding. Now, don't get me wrong. This is a fairly common occurrence - the department chair from my previous location offered us the chance to buy Girl Scout cookies from her girls every year. And apparently in my current department many PI's will take their kids' fund raisers to school, my boss included when he puts out the box of candy bars to raise money for his daughter's soccer team. But seriously? Our department chair, who just a month ago decided to un-hire a bunch of us and who has more money than she knows what to do with (have I mentioned that her husband is the head of a major research center within our institution as well) wants us to send her kids to France by spending money (which we now are trying to save since we have no idea when a new job will come along) on coffee?

I don't think so. And I'm not alone.

Based on what my lab-mates told me, when the department chair has done this in the past her lab members and other PI's are the only ones who sign up. Those are both groups of people with obligations to her. But I'm not so sure this year. As of the end of the day there were only two names on that list - a research scientist in her lab and one PI, who does happen to be a coffee junkie, so he's not simply sucking up. As for me, I certainly have no intention of spending money on that particular cause.