A Precommitment

Academia has been good to me so far.  For as long as I’ve been a professor, I have tried to speak politely, thoughtfully, and candidly –  privately as well publicly.  From where I’m sitting, the system treats me quite well.

Perhaps, however, I’ve simply been lucky.  Or perhaps the system is swiftly decaying right before my unperceiving eyes.

In case either of these pessimistic scenarios turn out to be correct, I am now making a precommitment.  Namely:

I will never apologize for politely saying o...