When I read why Karen Wilkerson and Jolie Smith were unable to get a marriage license on Friday, I could not help but think about my failed attempt to become a day sponsor for my local public radio station. At the time, I was using a hyphenated last name that I was told was too long to fit on the form. Therefore, I was unable to make a $360 contribution to public radio; a contribution that I would likely still be renewing even though my last name is no longer hyphenated.

Wilkerson and Smith were prevented from getting their marriage license for an equally trivial reason. Their gender did not fit the form which required one of them to be male. Karen Phillips, in her capacity as a clerk in the Smith County Texas vital statistics office, said that she could not change the form. Therefore, no license could be issued. The form trumped the the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges which had been issued earlier in the day.

The day before Wilkerson and Smith were denied their marriage license, we discussed Ralph Waldo Emerson in one of my classes. Although Emerson is often cited for his observation that “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” he did not actually condemn consistency. In “Self Reliance,” Emerson actually argues that “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

It might have been reasonable for my local public radio station or the Smith county clerk’s office to want a certain consistency, but it was their desire for a foolish consistency that Emerson would condemn. Clerks in Dallas and Austin counties were able to issue marriage licenses. Phillips could have done the same. I am equally sure that had he wanted to, the individual at my public radio station could have written my name in the margin or back of the form so that I could have made my donation.

One of the things that most students like about my classes is that flexibility is built into my syllabi as are alternative methods that students can use to complete projects. We practice the concept of equivalent but not identical work. But while reading about Wilkerson and Smith, my thoughts were more on the policies for my classes.

For example, if students miss class or plan to miss class, I ask that they complete a Time and Attendance Report. The purpose of the form is to encourage students to work with me in a timely fashion so that their absence does not cause them to fall behind in the course. In order to best assist students, there needs to be a consistency in the information I am provided: date of absence, reason for absence, arrangements they have already made to make up work, and whether they need a referral. Consistency also requires that I receive this information in a timely fashion. However, consistency does not require that I receive this information on the form I provide. Many students submit the information via an e-mail message or they schedule an appointment with me.

As faculty members, it is important for us to balance the need for consistency without falling into implementing a foolish consistency. I would never tell a student who e-mailed me all the necessary information concerning their absence that I could not help them because they had not reproduced the Time and Attendance form found in their syllabus.

I remember a conversation I had with some students during final conferences last semester. One student mentioned that his girlfriend had been in the hospital after having had emergency surgery the previous week; something I already knew because he had missed one day of class to be with her.

My student reported that while his girlfriend was recovering well, one her professors—not at the college where I teach—told her that she must take her final exam on the scheduled day even though she might still be in the hospital. If she did not take the exam, she would fail the course. The policy in his syllabus was no make-up exams and he was sticking with his policy because he needed to be consistent. Her other two professors were going to hold her to the same standards as other students, but they recognized that the circumstances demanded that modifications were needed in course policy.

After he completed his story, other students shared stories of foolish consistencies that they had experienced. None were as dramatic as that of the girlfriend in hospital, but they all exemplified behavior that did not reflect well on our profession.

Although I might never donate to my public radio station, Wilkerson and Smith will eventually get their marriage license. And students will be better served if we do not set aside good pedagogy for foolish consistencies.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

 

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