Shrimp in Lieu of Taxes

Alisa, after joining town government, started getting invited to semiannual town-gown events at the UMass Chancellor's residence. I've gotten to go a number of times as Alisa's "guest", which is fun. Normally there are no faculty at these events and it's interesting to see the administrators in their natural habitat.

Years ago, the town was trying to get the university to contribute more money to the town and someone joked that these events should be called "shrimp in lieu of taxes" and the name has stuck -- with me anyway.

At the time, these were formal evening events with an open bar, fancy appetizers, and an impressive buffet -- sometimes with several stations with chefs making custom dishes. After the financial crisis in 2008, the events were toned back significantly. Holub eliminated the meal and cooks. And the one last night eliminated even the alcohol. It was Indian themed in honor of our new Chancellor with mango lassies, juice, water, and few other weird drinks. There were some appetizers and deserts -- including gulab jamon. But it was all very sober -- painfully sober. And no shrimp.

I asked a dean if the new Chancellor was a teetotaler. He said that he was not and that the reason to not serve alcohol was primarily to set a tone consistent with the message to students regarding alcohol consumption. And for the appearance of containing costs.

It's hard to know the value of these kinds of events. There is always less cross-talk than you'd really like. The administrators tend to huddle together and the same with the townsfolk. A conference or retreat where people were forced into cross-disciplinary teams would probably be a better use of time and money -- maybe enough better to justify the alcohol. And even shrimp.