New College Independent Alumni/ae Association

Now that New College is closed and bandits are busy looting the remains, the 

Peter Gabel coterie is probably getting nervous about having to return 

ill-gotten gains. Should a class-action lawsuit materialize against them, 

that is a real possibility.

So what better way to derail the alumni than to drive a wedge between the 

alumni leadership? After all, the tactic of divide and conquer was standard 

operating procedure for the Gabel gang in preventing democratization of the 

school for three decades. They’ve honed the technique of infiltrating, 

rumor-mongering, and back-stabbing to an art. (There is now evidence pointing 

to a recent undercover operation by a true-believer of the Gabel cult to cozy 

up to some of the alumni leadership in order to undermine the most vocal of 

Gabel’s critics.)

In social conflict, there are always those who intentionally sow discord as 

part of psychological warfare. There are also those who unintentionally create 

disharmony due to their ignorance or argumentative nature. 

In order to prevail against enemies of social justice, both intentional and 

unintentional subversion of authentic activism must be dealt with. Whether 

those who disrupt productive organizing do so as a result of being misguided 

or malevolent will determine the manner in which they are dealt with, but due 

to the limited energy available for these distractions, needlessly indulging 

them is strategically unwise.

People get emotional under stress, and even civil discussions can get heated. 

But better that discussions take place than not. Otherwise, no learning. I 

could avoid criticism by flattering the ignorant or cajoling the delinquent, 

but that requires sacrificing the goals we’ve set. 

Over the years I’ve discovered that teaching and mentoring means that students 

and proteges sometimes turn on the messenger. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. 

But with agents of discord, I find it’s best to point out their game straight 

off before they can do much damage. A good policy is that everyone’s welcome who 

participates in good faith. Those who don’t can suffer the consequences.

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