[lbo-talk] The devilish strategy of cooption

[Michael Pollak]

>From today's NYT obit of JH Fischer.  The story of how he brought 
integration to Baltimore is a wonderful evocation of what liberalism with 
backbone looks like.  But on a more humorous note is this comment from the 
very end of his experience as the head of Columbia's Teacher's College in 
1968:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/education/26fischer.html

<quote>

Mr. Fischer's quiet style served him well when student unrest boiled
over at Columbia in 1968. When he learned that students were preparing
a revolt at Teachers College, he invited them into his office for a
chat and asked them what they wanted.

"The question seemed to take them by surprise," his son David said.

Mr. Fischer invited his guests to return with a plan, and that was the
end of the campus revolt at Teachers College.

<end quote>

Michael