I had an intense conversation with a student this week about the swampy, ethical paucity of the academy—its gossip mongering, it’s trolling, its vampiring, its lies, its festering hate, its cruelty and utter disregard for people’s feelings and well being....

This culture—which is in so many ways base, cruel and deeply unsettling— is pushing so many good people out of the academy. It’s crushing people’s hopes and dreams and taking away their joy.

People are being rewarded for bad behavior—lying, cheating, stealing, tricking and just being mean because they can and because the people that the choose to target choose not to stoop to their level.

What I will say to those students who are coming up and seeing all of this wondering why in the hell anyone would put up with it is this: for as many terrible people I have encountered in academia, I have encountered beautiful people who have brought me joy and taught me much...

For every lie I have heard told about someone or someone has told about me, I have learned truths about the world that have been inspiring and life changing...

So every time that I look around and think that this path is just too rotten to follow....I remember that despite all of its terribleness, there are good people on this path and there is good work to be done. It’s not all a waste.

Just felt like that needed to be said. Sometimes there’s so much noise around us that we forget about the beauty that brought us on this journey—the curiosity, the possibility, the desire to learn, share knowledge and produce knowledge. We can’t forget that...