THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
The illogical and vitriolic attacks on Catherine Jordan, the interim director of the Chrysler Museum, have prompted my letter in defense of her as a professional manager and as a compassionate person.
A letter writer's solution to the museum's cash-flow problem was to stop donating money. Would he have been satisfied if Ms. Jordan's decision had been to continue to spend monies that the museum did not have? Would greater deficit spending have prompted him to higher levels of giving? Logic would seem to dictate that, like corporate shareholders, not-for-profit stakeholders should laud rather than condemn efforts to improve the bottom line.
Another letter was even more disturbing since it implied that Ms. Jordan has no compassion for the people most directly impacted by the museum's financial problems. I know that these decisions, on a personal level, have pained her greatly, yet she had the courage and the dedication to the museum's mission to make those difficult decisions for the greater good of the organization. I suppose that the letter writer would prefer that the museum become a ``dead bush'' with many more losing their positions rather than suffer from the pruning.
Perhaps those who are so quick to criticize should try to understand the intellectual process as well as the compassion needed to make the decisions which lead to a more-efficient organization. I commend Ms. Jordan for her professionalism and her compassion.
J. E. BRITTON III
Virginia Beach, March 8, 1996 by CNB