Sean McMinn
smcminn@mustangdaily.net
He was reluctant to do the interview — at first.
Motivational speaker Paul Wesselmann, better known to Cal Poly students as “The Ripples Guy,” had already been criticized once for his ideas about quarters and semesters and wanted to take it easy. How would it help to put his arguments in the newspaper, when some were already upset with the usually likable, upbeat guy? He could just let Cal Poly’s battle play out before him, and then enter the fray again.
But Wesselmann said he kept thinking about what he calls the “unique, special relationship” he has with Cal Poly students. He couldn’t keep it out of his head. He hoped, maybe, he could clear his thoughts by just talking about it. And so he sent a response to Mustang Daily’s second interview request with a simple subject line: “You win.”
Wesselmann joined the semester debate as an unlikely peacemaker between two sides cemented in their positions for and against the calendar conversion. On one side were those wanting nothing to do with semesters, and had already called out the Semester Review Task Force as a mechanism to facilitate conversion, not spur debate on the issue. Semester supporters were the opponents, a group who some say are a minority on campus. They are led by President Jeffrey Armstrong, who has said he thinks semesters are right for Cal Poly — but will have an open mind before making a final decision for the campus.
Wesselmann wrote online that both sides are going about it the wrong way and need to re-examine how they are looking at the issue.
“I fear that students & others may resist this change for the primary reason that it is DIFFERENT without seriously and objectively considering the case for switching,” Wesselmann wrote on the “Keep Cal Poly on Quarter System!” Facebook page. “Several posts on this page and elsewhere demonstrate this unreasonable reaction that I don’t think advances the discussion.”
With a record of eight years as the motivational speaker during Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome, Wesselmann said he felt he could do a service to students by adding to the discussion of potential semester conversion.
In addition to his presentation aimed to motivate freshmen at the beginning of each year, Wesselmann also runs an online newsletter called “The Ripples Project” that sends out a short, inspirational message to thousands of followers every Monday morning. Though he admitted he’s “not Gandhi or a famous celebrity,” Wesselmann said he would like to help Cal Poly adapt to the possibility of change.
When Wesselmann saw a passionate debate about semesters and quarters stirring on Facebook — more than 10 percent of his Facebook friends are from Cal Poly, he says — the Ripples Guy couldn’t help but add to the conversation.
“I decided to weigh in even though I didn’t really have an opinion and it didn’t affect me, but it affects my friends,” he said.
And so Wesselmann began commenting on the pro-quarters Facebook event page, where more than 1,000 people had marked as “attending.” On the page, he asked students to see the change for what he believes it is: “a remarkable opportunity to accept that change happens frequently in your life and you’ll sometimes go farther by learning to navigate the rapids rather than paddling upstream.”
“Change is an inevitable part of any human life, any system or any organism,” he said.
Though Wesselmann’s post received 23 “likes” — more than any other entry on the page — backlash from supporters of the quarter system forced him to defend his comments.
Some targeted Wesselmann because of his comment that the change is “inevitable” and won’t be as bad as some think it will be. He has since said he “regrets” calling the change inevitable, but he believes the backlash proved his larger point in an unexpected way.
“Anybody going through any kind of change, the bias anyone is going to have is the status quo,” Wesselmann said. “They’re going to be more familiar with it, they’re going to be in favor of the way it’s been.”
But some disagree. Architecture junior Leticia de Brito, who created the Facebook event page, said she believes Wesselmann is dismissing students’ ideas too early. Rather than exhibiting the knee-jerk reaction that some predicted students would be prone to during the debate, de Brito said the arguments students have presented against semesters are valid.
“We’re not against the change to semesters because it’s a change,” de Brito said. “I don’t know if it’s a change for the best, or why it should be a change at all.”
Associated Students, Inc. President Katie Morrow, who has kept a middle-of-the-road approach in the semester discussion, also takes issue with Wesselmann’s philosophy. She said though she expects students to respect whatever decision is made, she believes students should be advocating for their opinions on semesters.
“I think we need to be a part of the process. We are adults. We deal with difficult decisions regularly,” Morrow said.
On Thanksgiving Day, just two days after Wesselmann agreed to interview with Mustang Daily, it appeared his critics claimed a victory. In a final post online, Wesselmann announced his decision to reserve his thoughts until after a decision is made, leaving the discussion on quarters and semesters.
“Since I don’t have an OPINION or STAKE in the outcome, and because I don’t want to be perceived as trying to INFLUENCE the decision, I intend to stay out of the fray for now and perhaps peek in again after a decision has been made to see if I can be of service to ease the transition (or lack thereof),” he posted.
His sign-off received nine “likes.”