12/16/2011: Excellent interview with Jack Stripling in the Chronicle You may need to be on campus for the link to work.
I had plenty of problems with him as president. But I like the man because he’s witty and genuine. I admire him because he’s smart and because he cared first about our students, not about himself. I respect him because he’s nobody’s toady and he is as honest as Abe. I wish him the best because he fought like hell against people who deserve to be fought against, and because when they beat him, he left with a grace that left them looking like the fools they are.
I hope our next president is all these things, and also knows how to tame snakes. Maybe we can help:
Q: … In a recent opinion piece for the Eugene Register-Guard, [new interim UO President Berdahl] said, Oregon’s next president should “be prepared to knuckle under the chancellor.” Is this a person you thought the board would turn to?
A. I don’t think they turned to him instinctively. When the faculty unanimously demanded that Bob Berdahl be the interim president, it really became necessary for the board, in spite of what they may have felt, to choose him.
I second your comments on RL!
“But I like the man because he’s witty and genuine. I admire him because he’s smart and because he cared first about our students, not about himself. I respect him because he’s nobody’s toady and he is as honest as Abe. I wish him the best because he fought like hell against people who deserve to be fought against, and because when they beat him, he left with a grace that left them looking like the fools they are.”
Where to begin! What “happened” to RL could have been avoided with a little honesty from RL. The most important comment made at the board meeting when RL was fired was made by Director Kelly, when he asked RL to admit that he had a part in the result. Of course, he “cared first about his students,not about himself” and said…NOTHING! The facts are that he lied and misled the board. Then he “left with a grace…” what a pile of steaming duck dung!
You just keep living in your alternate reality because to adress reality would mean that you might just be the fools in this game.
Other than that, Anonymous, “how did you enjoy the play”?