The art professor who used profanity in front of President David Rudd at a faculty senate meeting last April issued an apology to Rudd on Oct. 6 saying he decided that his swearing had overshadowed his efforts to make changes at the university.
At the April 29 meeting Cedar Nordbye objected to Rudd being allowed to speak because Rudd did not appear on the agenda for the meeting. Rudd, who had been named president just a few days earlier, was given permission to address the senate.
But as Rudd began to speak, Nordbye objected and shouted: “I have sat here all year and watched every one of our fucking meetings being hijacked by this guy.”
Norbye said his outburst was a reaction to the fact Rudd was often allowed to speak at faculty senate meetings, and the time it took for Rudd to speak meant that the meeting went too long and other issues were not addressed.
The art professor was a member of the faculty senate for five years before he resigned last April. Though he is no longer a member, he plans to continue to make changes to the University by creating a community of people who share the same values.
“I would like to see a conversation initiated on this campus about what can the senate be, because the senate is a place where change can come from,” he said.
Though no one asked him to apologize, Nordbye said he thought it was a good idea if he wanted to continue to be taken seriously and maintain his relationships with other administrators and faculty members.
“If you want to make changes it helps if people respect you and think you’re a good person,” he said.
The apology was written via email and was addressed to Rudd as well as the other senators. He then explained how his conduct at the meeting was polluted by anger and disappointment.
Though the meeting in April was his last to attend, Nordbye said he would reconsider joining again in the future if the way it operates changes.
Since his apology, Nordbye continues to be an open critic of the ways the University is run, particular financially.
“There is a population all across campus of people who are not happy with the way the University is going or with the way higher education in the world is going because it’s becoming more like a business,” he said. “It is not creating citizens, but employees.”
Three years ago, a state funding formula was used in order to decide how much funding institutions in Tennessee would receive. Because of fewer job opportunities due to the recession, the student population at the University of Memphis was higher than usual, causing less funding. Now that the economy is better and there are fewer students at the University, the funding the institution receives from the state is not efficient, according to Nordbye.
“The budget gap is entirely created by the state of Tennessee,” he said. “I would like to think there is a future that in the next 20 years we might see higher education free in the United States.”
