The University of Oregon’s misguided decision to remove Linda Dievendorf as director of the EMU Cultural Forum smacks of all the elements of the Jody Runge drama. Only in this case, Dievendorf has the full support and glowing admiration of everyone that she has ever worked with. Unfortunately, she is being pushed out by supervisors who either think they can micromanage her program better than she, or who hold an outright animosity toward what she has successfully built over the last 17 years.
For more than two decades, the student-funded and student-run Cultural Forum has treated the community to performances by an incredible myriad of world-class musicians. The quality and professionalism that have characterized the “modus operandi” of the Cultural Forum office are something to be praised for, not fired over! If the university really valued efficiency over nepotism, they’d promote her and make her the director of the whole EMU.
Larger than the issue of removing someone who is the best at what she does, there looms the fact that this is a radical move cast upon an organization that is entirely funded by the students, and yet students have had absolutely no involvement in the decision. This is an issue of control. Linda has succeeded with the Cultural Forum because she runs it by consensus, which means that decisions have everyone’s support. Reportedly, her supervisors prefer more of a top-down, “do what you’re told” approach to management, and Linda has found herself in the position of being an obstacle to greater control of students by the administration.
I encourage everyone to stop by the Cultural Forum to meet the people and check out the huge list of productions put on by this incredibly vital and undeniably successful student program. Even if the Willamette Valley Folk Festival is the only fruit of their labors you enjoy, beware: It could very well be the first event cut if administrators are able to replace Linda. This bodes terribly! In the 12 years that I’ve been a Eugene resident, the Folk Fest has become a spring ritual, the beginning of the outdoor music season and a revisiting of old friends. To lose it would be a shame.
Please support Dievendorf by calling either of the administrators involved with her termination: EMU Director Dusty Miller, at 346-6063, or EMU Student Activities Director Gregg Lobisser, 346-1143. More importantly, please share your concerns with their immediate supervisor, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Anne Leavitt, at 346-1129. They are currently refusing to divulge any specifics, ostensibly hiding behind the mantra of how “inappropriate” it would be to discuss the details of such a crucial personnel decision, because it’s a decision involving “personnel.” This bit of Alice-in-Wonderland logic is a lame but not wholly unexpected excuse for protecting the administration’s true agenda. The more we make them parrot that tired line, the more obviously thin it will become.
If every person who realized how many of their best-ever local musical “moments” were brought to them courtesy of the fine folks at the EMU Cultural Forum, if every one of them actually made their voices heard over this, the outcry would be overwhelming and Linda’s job will be saved, for the good of all of us.
Scott Michael Perey graduated with honors from the University’s music school in 1994 and has been a keyboardist with The Sugar Beets for more than 10 years.