Griffin Speaks
WHEN TWO ELEPHANTS FIGHT
For more than a decade I served as an adjunct Tax and Real
Estate Finance instructor at Alabama State University in the School of
Business under the leadership of Dean Percy Vaughan and Dr. Jean Crawford.
The conflict between the ASU Board of Trustees and Dr. Joe L. Reed disturbs
me greatly. There is an old African proverb that states that, “When two
elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” I can tell you now the
grass represent the ASU students and the two elephants represent Dr. Joe L.
Reed and the ASU Board of Trustees. Life is the art of compromise. This
conflict started with a simmer and rolled to a boil. It is time to turn down
the heat and begin the resolution process. Each side setting aside the
positions to which they are wedded can achieve this by asking: How important
is this to me and why? Am I sticking to my position because I must always
win? If the only option is that I win and you lose, then there is little
place to go. The irony of hang-tough positions is that you may win the
battle but lose the war. A school that produced such distinguished men as
Representative John Knight and Representative Alvin Holmes deserves to be
free of the outrageous negative publicity it has received from the removal
of Dr. Reed’s name from the Acadome. I beg you to return to the bargaining
table and work out a compromise.
In the words of my dad, “You must honor the chair whether it is sitting, walking or lying down.”
Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.