A university paying a professor $600K is already going to turn heads in Pullman, where most of us are doing mental math on whether that covers ramen for the semester. But the real story here isn't the salary. It's the fact that U of Washington allowed a "parody land acknowledgment" as part of this professor's work. That's not a quirky footnote. That's a choice, and it's the kind of choice that makes you squint a little.
For context, this lands right next to other campus oddities we've been tracking. Stanford Ad Policy Broken: AI Edits Raise Questions showed how a university can fumble the ball on its own stated rules when it comes to public-facing content. And Heads Up, Cougs: New Academic Officer Survey Drops reminds us that institutions are constantly gathering data on what faculty actually do, even when the public isn't looking. So this isn't a one-off. It's part of a pattern where universities make calls that feel disconnected from the people they're supposed to serve.
Here's my honest take, and I'm not trying to be dramatic: parody has a place, but not in a land acknowledgment. A land acknowledgment is a specific, solemn gesture. It's not a genre. It's not a bit. When a university pays someone that kind of money and then lets them mock that gesture, it tells students and community members that the institution doesn't actually take the underlying issues seriously. It's like laughing during a moment of silence. You can do it, but everyone's going to remember you did.
What does this mean for us as students? It means the institutions we're paying to attend, and in many cases working for, are making judgment calls that don't always align with their stated values. It's not about policing humor. It's about consistency. If you're going to acknowledge the land, do it with the same gravity you'd want for your own history. If you're going to pay someone six figures, hold them to a standard that matches the title on the door.
If you're a student who's confused about this, you're not alone. I'd tell you to pay attention to how your own university handles these moments. Does it apologize when it messes up? Does it double down? Does it even notice? Because those small signals tell you more about the culture than any brochure or welcome week speech ever will.
The takeaway here isn't just "that's bad." It's this: watch how your school reacts when it gets something wrong. That's the real test. And if they let a $600K professor turn a land acknowledgment into a punchline, ask yourself what else they're willing to let slide for the sake of staying quiet. That's the question worth holding onto.
