Imagine an entire institution where your goal is to minimize the ability for anyone to convince people you were negligent, and you hate your job because it doesn't matter how you do it, you have little control outside of whatever fiefdom and backroom channels you've assembled.
The kind of person who doesn't leave that role tends to be either someone who enjoys accumulating or wielding power, or would have trouble in roles outside of an institution like that.
Now imagine a person who has almost no power just made a public spectacle about something in your camp that you've been not doing for years even though it's been a well known problem because nobody could make you do anything about it.
You're probably going to go into overdrive and try to kill this story, even if it's not because you'll be directly punished in any way from it (because that's very uncommon in academia), but because this person DARED to challenge you.
...at least, that's my perception from years of time around toxic parts of academia (and some less toxic parts, but.)
I'm not saying the story is true, I don't have enough data to comment, but I have absolutely seen enough academics go off the handle from 0 to 11 to buy this as plausible.
The kind of person who doesn't leave that role tends to be either someone who enjoys accumulating or wielding power, or would have trouble in roles outside of an institution like that.
Now imagine a person who has almost no power just made a public spectacle about something in your camp that you've been not doing for years even though it's been a well known problem because nobody could make you do anything about it.
You're probably going to go into overdrive and try to kill this story, even if it's not because you'll be directly punished in any way from it (because that's very uncommon in academia), but because this person DARED to challenge you.
...at least, that's my perception from years of time around toxic parts of academia (and some less toxic parts, but.)
I'm not saying the story is true, I don't have enough data to comment, but I have absolutely seen enough academics go off the handle from 0 to 11 to buy this as plausible.