Elizabeth “Beppie” Huidekoper is the executive vice president for finance and administration at the University. From what I can tell, she is very powerful. If Brown were an ATM machine, the pin number would probably be Huidekoper’s initials. I am very scared of her. I heard she once outsourced the entire mailroom.
Earlier this week, Huidekoper wrote an op-ed about the ongoing library union negotiations. This was of interest to me because I am a member of the library union and have been involved with the ongoing negotiations. My general sense from the article was that Huidekoper feels I, as a union member, don’t have the skills to respond to the changing needs of the library. Well, I guess I’ll just go crawl under a pile of books and wait until the library replaces it with a 400-foot-tall e-book kiosk.
Huidekoper began her op-ed praising the Brown community for its interest in the library negotiations. I can’t speak for the entire community, but her statement felt patronizing, like some kind of feudal lord walking among the people, petting their heads and praising everyone for how good they are at getting their heads patted.
The words “fair” and “equitable” appeared over and over throughout the op-ed. Many things about the article rubbed me the wrong way, but the repetition of these two words was particularly unpleasant. Every time Huidekoper used these words, I imagined her sprinkling powdered sugar on a burning tire and calling it a donut.
Obviously, the op-ed would have been easier to digest if she had been more honest, rather than forcing her “fair and equitable” propaganda. But when has any university ever said, “Hi, I know we’re supposed to promote higher learning, but really we’re just a business, and like every business, our priority is money. So yeah, technically we have to keep saying the people matter, but in the end it’s always going to be about dollar signs”?
One quick, sort of unrelated aside: The night after I read the op-ed, I had a dream one of the managers at the library brought me into a windowless room and then laughed at me while telling me I was no longer allowed to take a lunch break.
There was a time when I used to believe in Brown. A few years ago, I was an instructor here. A few years before that, I was a student. Now I am an employee. I have experienced Brown from every angle. I’ve learned, taught and worked at Brown. But it wasn’t until I began working here that I fully understood Brown for the business it is.
Before I end this column, it’s important to clarify a few points. In Huidekoper’s op-ed, she harped on the union’s current health insurance premiums, but she did not mention that the union premiums have risen from 7 percent to 9 percent to 12 percent over the course of the four-year contract.
The most recent increase took place Sept. 30, increasing the premium from 9 percent to 12 percent. There was also no mention about how the University went “self-insured” in 2008, which means it takes everyone’s insurance money, puts it in a fund, pays Blue Cross to use its name, pays for health costs out of this fund and keeps any savings. Another issue with the op-ed is the union numbers listed. Huidekoper fails to mention that since 2006-07, the library union is down 30 positions while the rest of the library is down only six positions.
I don’t know what else to say. It just feels very, very uncomfortable when a higher-up talks all about fairness and equity, but then picks only the numbers that support one side. The whole thing is sort of terrifying. Huidekoper is probably the third most important person at Brown, behind President Christina Paxson and Provost Vicki Colvin. And for her to use her position of power to basically say, “Hey everyone, look at the library union. They make a little more than you. Let’s get them … ” is absurd.
I’ll end with a story I once heard about Huidekoper. Years ago, she made an appearance at a library union negotiation. This was before my time, but from what I heard, someone asked her how much she made and she responded, “I earn every cent.” Well, Huidekoper, the next time you write a column about the library union, make sure you add how hardworking we are and how we, too, earn every cent we make.
Mark Baumer is a member of the Brown University Library. He got his MFA from Brown in 2011.
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