From an RG Op-ed, by UO students Kevin Sullivan and Elise Downing, 8/25/2012:
… Unfortunately, the student affairs administrators at the UO, who are trying to increase the prestige of the university by renovating the EMU, are shooting themselves in the foot by showcasing an affinity for corruption and lack of ethics that have made waves throughout the state.
Robin Holmes still has a job, which suggests that she was following someone’s orders when she hired the RBI elections firm to manipulate the EMU election, and not going off on her own. I wonder how specific any such orders were, and who they might have came from. For most of the time involved she reported to Lorraine Davis. Holmes sits on UO’s “Executive Leadership Team”, and her ultimate boss was interim President Bob Berdahl. Last spring Berdahl rejected a request by the UO Senate and ASUO presidents to allow them to attend ELT meetings.
Is there any reason to think that this is the first time Holmes et al have done this sort of thing? Is there any way to find out if they have hired firms in the past to influence U of O elections/decisions?
Those are interesting questions!
I think this is appropriate for the FAC or U Senate to ask about — this practice is one that implicates the whole university, judging from the reaction to it.