Epilogue: Marcus and the Marshall

 

Some may think that I am back pedaling.  I don't live in the past, but at the time, this issue was dear to my heart.

I haven't been that active in the Marshall recently though I am still a member.  This is largely due to the pandemic. But also, the club has changed over the years.  When I was a teenager we were considered second class citizens, but the club was not authoritarian, and they let us do what we wanted.  Now that I am old and not rich, I am a second class citizen, and the club is somewhat more authoritarian.  Of course I had my day somewhere in between.  What has happened might be called gentrification.

So I don't like the direction the club has gone in, but I know enough of the club's history to know that the direction has changed many times over the years.  But I would say that we have a better president and a better executive director than in Marcus' time.  I haven't heard any complaints about them, and if there were many complaints, I would have heard.

As for Marcus and the Marshall's finances, I wasn't on the board, and I have only second-hand information.  I do know for certain that after Marcus left, the administration found that there was no money in the bank, and records could not be found.  The president did take up a collection from the board, probably hoping to solve the immediate shortfall.  It was never proven to my satisfaction that this was definitely Marcus' fault.  The board should have ensured that there be backup records and that the finance be monitored.  Fortunately we have a largely different board now.

Marcus is certainly not who I would have hired.  I was vice president at a previous time, and I did help make a hire at the time.  But I think Marcus represented the direction that the board wanted to go in.  There was a battle for the soul of the club, and I was on the losing side.  I would have hired someone who was better known in the chess community, whose talents, weaknesses, and philosophy were already well-known.

My impression of Marcus is that he meant well for the Marshall, and was successful in forwarding the agenda that now dominates.  I think he does not always play by the rules.  I think in a non-profit membership organization it is important for officials to play by the rules because otherwise they are denying members their equity.  An old-fashioned idea maybe. Others will tell me that change is inevitable, and I shouldn't cry about it, and they are right.