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| A standout on the panel, U.S. Senate, 2012 |
We're about to wade into troubled waters.
Where we left off (The Interim Maneuver, 22 May), Bill Rawson had been selected by Trustees to serve as Interim Principal in what appeared to be a perfunctory process. He won out over a surprisingly limited field of candidates, only one with the credentials normally expected for leading a private secondary school. Unfortunately, none had the specialized expertise to do the job that needed to get done
What job?
Typically, an "interim" is just a placeholder. But here, the need to address outstanding problems called for something more - an independent outsider to bring a reality-check. This specialized interim leadership, sometimes termed an "intentional interim," requires a specialized expertise. Basically, an intentional interim is a consultant empowered to be a change agent. So as to assure their independence and objectivity, they are obliged to depart at the end of their assignment, typically under two years. After, the assignment is over, they have no further ties to the organization. There's no fear or favor since there's nothing to gain or lose beyond accomplishing the task at hand.
The Academy is a textbook example of an organization in need for such a break in typical leadership, an interregnum to get its bearings. What are the signs (adapted here from ministry)? First, Principals appointed at the Academy are normally expected to carry out a 10-year commitment. Tom Hassan lasted less than six, Lisa MacFarlane just half that. Churning leadership indicates underlying structural problems.
Where we left off (The Interim Maneuver, 22 May), Bill Rawson had been selected by Trustees to serve as Interim Principal in what appeared to be a perfunctory process. He won out over a surprisingly limited field of candidates, only one with the credentials normally expected for leading a private secondary school. Unfortunately, none had the specialized expertise to do the job that needed to get done
What job?
Typically, an "interim" is just a placeholder. But here, the need to address outstanding problems called for something more - an independent outsider to bring a reality-check. This specialized interim leadership, sometimes termed an "intentional interim," requires a specialized expertise. Basically, an intentional interim is a consultant empowered to be a change agent. So as to assure their independence and objectivity, they are obliged to depart at the end of their assignment, typically under two years. After, the assignment is over, they have no further ties to the organization. There's no fear or favor since there's nothing to gain or lose beyond accomplishing the task at hand.
The Academy is a textbook example of an organization in need for such a break in typical leadership, an interregnum to get its bearings. What are the signs (adapted here from ministry)? First, Principals appointed at the Academy are normally expected to carry out a 10-year commitment. Tom Hassan lasted less than six, Lisa MacFarlane just half that. Churning leadership indicates underlying structural problems.
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| Hassan: a change in contract |
Another marker for intentional interim work is when leadership has been compelled to leave, or does so under the cloud of some moral failure. Check the box. Hassan drew censure - not by his own employer, but by The Association of Boarding Schools.
So the Academy has been reeling. Two Principals now down and out under the storm of a campus sex abuse scandal. By any measure, the institution has been in desperate need for the professional services of an intentional interim.
I am not the only person to recognize this.
In The Exonian, as the Interim Principal Advisory Committee completed its task, History Instructor Michael Golay went on record to underscore the need for something more than a stand-in while searching for a permanent Principal. The choice for interim is “more important than the permanent appointment down the road...the problems that the interim is going to have to deal with are so important and so urgent that we need to make progress on them in order to get a strong set of candidates for the 16th principal position.”
Golay was remarkably outspoken in his criticism of the Committee:
We went weeks without hearing anything from the trustee head of the advisory committee. I haven’t heard anything from any of the members of the committee. And my guess is that most of my colleagues would say the same thing if you ask them: that the operation has not been, in any sense of the word, transparent.
There's a few more things to unpack here to get a fuller understanding of how Bill Rawson became Interim Principal. There's a few missing pieces, too, before we can have a comprehensive picture.
First, the process apparently wasn't a smooth a slam-dunk. The Interim Principal Advisory Committee launched on February 26th. Committee Chair Claudine Gay set the soft deadline for input on March 7. That's a very narrow window. Still, it took time for the committee to conclude its work - finished when it presented three candidates to the Trustees on April 23rd. The Exonian reported that this was behind schedule.
Downer’s initial statement in February that the final decision would be made soon has also led many to question why the process took far longer than originally anticipated. “Nobody expected it to go on for three months,” Golay said.
Already behind-the ball, now it was in the Trustee's court. Faculty member Andrew McTammany, a member of the advisory committee, expected a quick decision. “There’s an urgency because the interim principal would ideally be placed and learn about the job from our current principal before she leaves,” he said.
What delayed this urgent undertaking?
Dissension over Due Dilly?
As I mentioned, there's some pieces missing from the puzzle to explain the delays in the search and selection process. One possible stumbling block: Rawson's professional experience.
The school's disclosures about Rawson's professional career are rather limited. In the original coverage of the committee's candidate selection, he's the only one to decline an interview by the Exonian's reporters. Instead, one of his former teachers, Jack Herney, delivered the inside dope:
He’s been a student, a parent, a faculty member, a trustee. That’s quite a combination. Clearly somebody like that would know the school very well...Very few people, I would guess, know the Academy from as many different perspectives as Mr. Rawson.
Then, in his candidate statement, he only makes a passing reference to his 30+ year professional career, mentioning only his "...experience building a law practice, chairing a department, and mentoring younger lawyers."
But what kind of law practice?
William K. Rawson is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Latham & Watkins LLP where he chairs the office’s Environment, Land & Resources Department. He also co-chairs the firm’s global Chemical Regulation and Product Defense Practice Group. Mr. Rawson maintains a broad-gauged environmental regulatory and litigation practice focusing on high-stakes chemical-related issues arising under most major environmental statutes and also in connection with congressional investigations, state legislative initiatives, and high visibility coverage by national news media. He has extensive experience dealing with complex issues pertaining to hazard, exposure, and risk assessment and risk communication. In 2006, Mr. Rawson testified before the full Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on TSCA reform.
Clients include obscure outfits like Croplife America and the American Chemistry Council.
I offer this without comment - Rawson answering the question:
Do you agree that chemical manufacturers should have to prove through unbiased studies that their products are safe for pregnant women, for infants, and for children before they can sell those chemicals in the U.S.?
Next up, I'll delve into this in detail explaining why what is portrayed in this exchange is telling and troubling - aside from the obvious. See "Rawson: Guilt by Trade Association."
The Academy's announcement gives a sketch:
Rawson practiced law at the international law firm of Latham & Watkins in the Washington, D.C, office...in addition to co-founding and chairing the firm’s environmental department in Washington, he served on several firm management committees, including recruiting, finance, and associate career development and training.
Rawson practiced law at the international law firm of Latham & Watkins in the Washington, D.C, office...in addition to co-founding and chairing the firm’s environmental department in Washington, he served on several firm management committees, including recruiting, finance, and associate career development and training.
Following a few links sent by a fellow Exonian, I started searching for what I could find about Rawson - alternate professional biographies and examples of his environmental work. I found this in a book he co-authored:
William K. Rawson is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Latham & Watkins LLP where he chairs the office’s Environment, Land & Resources Department. He also co-chairs the firm’s global Chemical Regulation and Product Defense Practice Group. Mr. Rawson maintains a broad-gauged environmental regulatory and litigation practice focusing on high-stakes chemical-related issues arising under most major environmental statutes and also in connection with congressional investigations, state legislative initiatives, and high visibility coverage by national news media. He has extensive experience dealing with complex issues pertaining to hazard, exposure, and risk assessment and risk communication. In 2006, Mr. Rawson testified before the full Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on TSCA reform.
Clients include obscure outfits like Croplife America and the American Chemistry Council.
But what does this all mean?
Request for Information: Trustees
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| Paging Tony Downer... |
Last week, I sent emails to both Rawson and the Trustees to be sure that the scattered pieces of his work accurately represents his vocational interests. I included a few questions including this:
"Product defense" for the petrochemical and pesticide industry appears to have been his metier. How does "product defense" differ from, say, criminal defense work?
Criminal defense attorneys may zealously defend an individual accused (and even demonstrably guilty) of despicable crimes- something that some would find morally abhorrent. Still, they may be motivated by a transcendent ideal, that everyone is entitled to such a defense. As such, this vocation is in alignment with the Academy's Non Sibi ethos. How does work in "product defense" align with some transcendent value, with Non Sibi?
I provided a partial list of court filing and the like that I had discovered. I grouped these under various chemicals they address. I included a link to background materials on the chemical, then to his filings for particular clients.
Response? Thus far, not a peep - not even an acknowledgement of receipt. Here's what I sent to Tony Downer, the President of the Trustees. It contains numerous links and citations. I welcome those practicing law - especially environmental law - to review. If this is in your purview, please tell me how this looks from your professional perspective.
"Product defense" for the petrochemical and pesticide industry appears to have been his metier. How does "product defense" differ from, say, criminal defense work?
Criminal defense attorneys may zealously defend an individual accused (and even demonstrably guilty) of despicable crimes- something that some would find morally abhorrent. Still, they may be motivated by a transcendent ideal, that everyone is entitled to such a defense. As such, this vocation is in alignment with the Academy's Non Sibi ethos. How does work in "product defense" align with some transcendent value, with Non Sibi?
I provided a partial list of court filing and the like that I had discovered. I grouped these under various chemicals they address. I included a link to background materials on the chemical, then to his filings for particular clients.
Response? Thus far, not a peep - not even an acknowledgement of receipt. Here's what I sent to Tony Downer, the President of the Trustees. It contains numerous links and citations. I welcome those practicing law - especially environmental law - to review. If this is in your purview, please tell me how this looks from your professional perspective.
Into the ring with Boxer
Many of the legal documents are simply outside of my ambit. Easier to understand is an exchange in 2012 between Sen. Barbara Boxer and William K. Rawson, Esq. representing the Albemarle Corporation, a domestic producer of flame retardants and ICL-IP, an Israeli importer of the same.I offer this without comment - Rawson answering the question:
Do you agree that chemical manufacturers should have to prove through unbiased studies that their products are safe for pregnant women, for infants, and for children before they can sell those chemicals in the U.S.?
Next up, I'll delve into this in detail explaining why what is portrayed in this exchange is telling and troubling - aside from the obvious. See "Rawson: Guilt by Trade Association."
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