We all know Mike’s $940K richer, and that he’s technically on the books at UC-Irvine as a Criminology professor for $240K a year. But what’s he really doing?
My guess is that he’s topping off that $240K with some serious AAU money – in the spirit of his mentor Bob Berdahl – to help develop the AAU’s new “Campus Climate” survey on sexual assault. This apparently became an AAU priority at their meeting in April, a month or so after Gottfredson (and Berdahl?) learned of the UO basketball rape allegations.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine anything that would do more to destroy the AAU’s credibility on this issue than getting Gottfredson and Berdahl involved. But here’s the report from AAU President Hunter Rawlings, apparently posted by mistake on Gottfredson’s website, here: (Yes, the yellow hilites are in the original.)
Whatever happened on campus for either Berdahl or Gottfredson took second place or worse to their personal agendas of self promotion.
What is quite stunning is knowing now that at that April meeting, Gottfredson was a participant in the questionable handling of a REAL alleged sexual assault at UO and he dared present himself as some sort of expert in the ability to come up with tools to handle it for the AAU. With a current, real life situation in his back pocket, he suggests a survey to find out what going on. A survey! Not that a campus survey isn’t important, BUT … he is confronted in Row 1 and sounds detached and unaware. Being There.
Now, the question is: will this condition continue?
Correction: he doesn’t suggest but apparently goes along with sponsoring a survey to find out what is really happening on AAU campuses. Not to mention the survey suggested by Prof. Freyd which his administration rejected.
Why are schools so terrified of a campus climate survey? Freyd’s survey, a federal survey, what’s so scary?
Because they’re afraid it will somehow impact enrollment if they view the results as unfavorable or cast the school in a bad light of any kind. Remember that these administrators count on tuition dollars to pad their checks, expense accounts, perks and other waste.