Pubdate: Mon, 02 Oct 2006 Source: Tennessean, The (Nashville, TN) Copyright: 2006 The Tennessean Contact: http://www.tennessean.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447 Author: Ralph Loos, Staff Writer, http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) CONSTANCE GEE PICKS HER BATTLES Wife Of Vandy Chancellor Keeps Her Counsel After Journal's Story Forgive Constance Gee if even she chooses to disagree with one or two of Wikipedia's takes on her given name. Constance: a plain, old-fashioned woman who is prim, proper and patient. Forgive her, too, for not finding time in recent days to talk about herself. It was one of those weeks. When invited to sit and chat for the purpose of a "get-to-know-you" profile in the wake of Vanderbilt University's Wall Street Journal-gate, Gee, who along with being on faculty is also married to the school's chancellor, politely declined and explained: "People who know me already know me." Probably. But they aren't sharing, either. What we do know about the chancellor's wife is this: She's generally well-liked by students, has been known to dance at university socials and at one time made a habit of bringing to class her pet poodle. She's an artist at heart, liberal and is rarely afraid not only to say but to act, regardless the consequences. When Brown University's alumni magazine suggested in an article that she was to blame for Gordon Gee exiting that school to come to Vanderbilt -- the allegation was that she desired professional advancement at Brown -- Gee immediately fired off a letter to the publication's editor. "I write with specific regard to the inaccurate speculation about why Gordon Gee allowed himself to be drawn into Vanderbilt's courtship," her letter, which was published in the May-June 2000 issue, read. "You presented two leading questions: 'Was it simply the money? Was it that Vanderbilt had offered his wife tenure, something that Brown has refused to do?' The first question does not merit a reply. Your second question is built on a false and slanderous premise." She ended the letter with, "I am not the scapegoat that some members of the Brown community appear to require. I suggest that those who love Brown and care about its dignity accept my husband's graceful explanation of his resignation." That example brings up another aspect of "Constance." The name derives from Latin and means "constant, knowledgeable, steadfast and loyal." Absent is mention of "flair." It's her flair that may have attracted Gordon Gee, a likeable and successful leader who, while certainly social and a fan of fun, is a Morman and does not drink or smoke. The chancellor replied to a 2002 Tennessean interview question "who are the three sexiest people alive" with the following answers: "First, my wife, Constance, who is bright, opinionated and clearly her own person." "Second, Vanessa Redgrave, who reminds me of my wife, though a bit older." "And third, Maggie Smith, who reminds me of my wife, though quite a bit older." An artist early on Constance Bumgarner Gee was born 53 years ago in Raleigh, N.C., the daughter of Marie and Clifton Bumgarner, who is deceased. She is an accomplished artist who began painting as a child and eventually earned a bachelor of Fine Arts degree from East Carolina University. After a summer of studying sculpture at Los Angeles' Otis/Parsons School of Art and Design, she enrolled at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y, where she left with a master of Fine Arts degree. She spent time working in New York, then returned to Pratt as an employee. She later earned a doctoral degree in art education from The Pennsylvania State University. Gee's professional career path includes working for the South Carolina Arts Commission. In 1993, she went to the Ohio State University as an assistant professor of art education and, eventually, director of the arts policy and administration program. In November 1994, she married then-Ohio State University President Gordon Gee. They departed the Columbus, Ohio, campus for Brown University in late 1997. At Brown, Constance Gee was assistant professor of education and public policy. Published reports called her "a very likable woman" but described her teaching performance as "subpar." In a Village Voice article, a colleague was quoted as saying Gee was a "woman who worked hard to be affable, look good and fulfill a thankless role" as first lady. And according to The Critical Review, a campus-wide survey to evaluate Brown courses, students assessed Gee's first semester performance there as "below average." A number of students said she occasionally had bouts of "nervousness." She also took some heat as first lady, credited with requesting renovations to the presidential house, which reportedly cost Brown hundreds of thousands of dollars. By 2000, the Gees were bound for Nashville, where the husband and wife team are, by most accounts, well-liked. "She offered a lot of good insight and was able to connect, probably since she had worked as an artist," said Andrea Legg, a 2002 Vanderbilt graduate who lives and works in Georgia. Legg, who took one of Gee's classes, said: "She even took us on a class trip to New York to learn more about the real working world." Legg fondly recalls Gee bringing her "mascot" to class. "She had a standard poodle named Lucy, and from time to time, Professor Gee would bring Lucy with her. She was nice about it, asking if anyone minded. The dog was always well-groomed and sat quietly in the back of the room." Gee, noted to be extremely anti-Republican, has also been involved in her fair share of rumbles since arriving in Nashville. When then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was invited to speak during the Vanderbilt graduation ceremonies in 2004, Mrs. Gee signed her name on a letter to the chancellor, protesting the speech. The letter, of course, was delivered to her husband. Vanderbilt officials have said the letter wound up posted on the mansion's refrigerator. That same year, when President George W. Bush won re-election over Democratic challenger John Kerry, she lowered the flag at Braeburn, the university mansion in Belle Meade, to half-staff. Speculation is that Gordon Gee told her to raise it. Pot not quite a bombshell Constance Gee has been tight-lipped this past week, likely a result of Vanderbilt's first lady being caught up, possibly by accident, in a media bombing originally aimed at her husband and the university he serves as chancellor. In a long-anticipated Wall Street Journal piece about oversight and spending at the school, reporters introduced the notion that Mrs. Gee, in an attempt to relieve discomfort from an inner-ear disease, had been using marijuana at the school-owned chancellor's residence. Some would say those aren't the actions of an old-fashioned woman. But the most important members of the Vanderbilt community don't seem to mind what the chancellor's wife does in her spare time. Constance Gee will never be accused of being plain, university students say. "Really, students think the whole thing is kind of funny," said Reeve Hamilton, a junior English major from Boston. "I mean, every single person I've heard talk about Mrs. Gee and pot says, 'Big deal, who cares?' " Even if you don't count the residents of McGill Hall, who proclaimed her an honorary resident after the marijuana allegations, Gee seems to have built a sizable fan base among the student body. "Legal matters aside, she seems like her own woman," Glenda Pavon, a junior from Atlanta said. "This can be a stuffy place, but she doesn't come across that way. Pot on a college campus, even among faculty, isn't exactly news." Though no faculty at Vanderbilt would go on record with an opinion on Constance Gee, students said there apparently isn't an uproar over the marijuana revelations. "Some of the professors in my classes say they don't think it's that big of a deal and my friends have said their professors say the same thing," said Reeves. As for the people in control of the university, those willing to speak on the subject support Constance Gee. "My own personal thought on the matter is that it certainly was not for recreational use," Monroe Carell Jr., a Vanderbilt trustee, said in the wake of the news. "Knowing that lady, Mrs. Gee, as I do, I can't imagine that it was for anything other than medicinal purposes." What else would a "prim and proper" woman use it for? - --- MAP posted-by: Derek