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Joe Meigs writes about university tenure 'hoops'

By Rose Hooper
Meigs Meigs Author Joe Meigs has turned the universal struggle of a man trying to get ahead into a parody.

A professor of English at Western Carolina University, Meigs has written about a fictitious professor, Tyler Davidson, in his quest for tenure.

In Meigs' new novel, "Tenure Track," Davidson, who received his Ph.D. in English at the University of Michigan, takes a position at a small Southern institution of higher education. Although he is idealistic, Davidson is somewhat narrow-minded as far as the rural South is concerned.

"It's the classic academic world vs. the common sense world," Meigs said about his book, which he described as "fiction based on experience."

In his quest for tenure, Davidson, like the rope dancers in "Gulliver's Travels," goes through the paces of seeing who can jump the highest without falling off. With a touch of humor, Meigs satirizes the university system and the hoops a professor has to go through in the tenure process.

Tenure Track Western Carolina University's Organization of Creative Writers will sponsor an evening with WCU English professor Joe Meigs, author of "Tenure Track," next Tuesday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Forsyth Auditorium.

"'Tenure Track's' fictional campus, Northwest Georgia University, is loosely based around Western Carolina University, complete with a literally alarming bell tower that belts out the off-key notes of local favorite songs. The similarities between WCU and the 'Tenure Track' campus provide a unique perspective to the plot, but any reader will find the story accessible without having any knowledge of Western," said James Hogan, sergeant-at-arms for the WCU Organization of Creative Writers.

"Most enjoyable are Meigs' character sketches of faculty and administrators alike. He paints wonderful portraits of people who are present in most any college setting, such as Dr. Bwanger, the pushy department head; Ben Sturgeon, the tenured slacker; President Popson, the head of the university who justifies his existence by his ability to tell people Œno'; and Hugh Disner, Davidson's arch-nemesis who typically enjoys carrying on conversations in public restrooms," said Hogan. "Perhaps Meigs' vivid descriptions might startle some teachers into a new pedagogy."

"For me, the book was a way of venting and having fun at the same time," said Meigs, who has taught at WCU since 1970 when he received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida.

"As I edited the book, if a part bothered me at all... if it seemed too cutesy.. or if I groaned, then I got rid of it. Hopefully, I've eliminated all the groaners," he said. "I hope my novel fits into the climate of being able to laugh at authority figures."

Lots of people gave Meigs ideas as he was writing the book, including fellow professor Terry Nienhuis, but Kingsley Amis, author of "Lucky Jim," influenced him more than anyone else, he said.

Meigs said he began his writing about the tenure track as a labor of love back in 1995.

"The more I looked at it, the more I thought I could turn it into a novel," said this professor, who specializes in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, literary criticism and film as literature. "The more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. In some ways, it just about wrote itself. What I had to do was add certain fictional elements."

Meigs found the writing so much fun he is already working on a sequel while his academic writing temporarily sits on a shelf. He still tries to find time for basketball, running, golf, tennis, skiing, automobile restoration and water color painting.

The WCU Organization of Creative Writers is sponsoring an evening with Meigs next Tuesday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Forsyth Auditorium. He will give a reading at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva Friday, March 29, at 7 p.m.

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