As President Lariviere has said, this fight is not about him, it’s about UO. So true: in fact we went through this before. Here is the statement from the faculty and students from 1987 when the Chancellor and Board fired President Paul Olum (from the UO archives) with the original signatories, but slightly edited to fit the current situation:
WHEREAS the State Board of Higher Education and its Chancellor have acted to force the retirement of Paul Olum Richard Lariviere as President of the University of Oregon, and
WHEREAS they have undertaken this action without any initial consultation with the faculty and students of the University of Oregon and then over the repeated expressions of protest from the faculty, students, staff, alumni and alumnae, and friends of the University of Oregon, and
WHEREAS they have as a group declined to engage in reasoned dialogue and have thereby confounded the traditions of argument and persuasion on which higher education is based, and
WHEREAS they have acted in defiance of testimony that their action will bring enduring injury to the University of Oregon, and
WHEREAS they have provided the citizens of the State of Oregon with no credible reasons for their action until compelled to do so, and
WHEREAS they have indicated by their action their lack of confidence in the President, faculty, staff, students, alumni and alumnae, and friends of the University of Oregon,
BE IT RESOLVED that the faculty and students of the University of Oregon have no confidence in the current Chancellor of the State System of Higher Education or in the current State Board of Higher Education, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the faculty and students of the University of Oregon urge the governor to take appropriate action to ensure the responsiveness of the State Board of Higher Education to the concerns of the faculties and students of the several institutions and the citizenry of the state.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the faculty and students of the University of Oregon urge the governor to appoint a commission to review the operation of the State System of Higher Education and to recommend ways to restore to the faculties and presidents of the individual institutions the essential powers over their own governance, curricula, executive appointments, and personnel decisions which the policies of the current Chancellor and State Board are systematically eroding.
Eugene, Oregon
December 2, 1987 November 30, 2011
CO-SPONSORS (from, 1987)
C. Melvin Aikens, Anthropology
James R. Blanchard, Physical Education
Thomas A. Brady, Jr., History
Roger Chickering, History
Lorraine G. Davis, School and Community Health
Nilendra G. Deshpande, Physics
Christopher H. Edson, Educational Policy and Management
Michael J. Ellis, Physical Education and Human Movement Studies
Peter B. Gilkey, Mathematics
Marvin D. Girardeau, Physics
Marion S. Goldman, Sociology
Paul Goldman, Educational Policy and Management
Arthur M. Handhardt, Political Science
David R. Herrick, Chemistry
Jeffrey M. Hurwit, Art History
Richard M. Koch, Mathematics
Gary M. Martin, Music
Brian W. Matthews, Chemistry
Glenn A. May, History
Robert M. Mazo, Chemistry
James M. O’Fallon, Law
Stanley A. Pierson, History
Myron Rothbart, Psychology
Cheyney Ryan, Philosophy
Everett G. Smith, Geography
Davison E. Soper, Physics
Joe A. Stone, Economics
James A. Weston, Biology
James R. Blanchard, Physical Education
Thomas A. Brady, Jr., History
Roger Chickering, History
Lorraine G. Davis, School and Community Health
Nilendra G. Deshpande, Physics
Christopher H. Edson, Educational Policy and Management
Michael J. Ellis, Physical Education and Human Movement Studies
Peter B. Gilkey, Mathematics
Marvin D. Girardeau, Physics
Marion S. Goldman, Sociology
Paul Goldman, Educational Policy and Management
Arthur M. Handhardt, Political Science
David R. Herrick, Chemistry
Jeffrey M. Hurwit, Art History
Richard M. Koch, Mathematics
Gary M. Martin, Music
Brian W. Matthews, Chemistry
Glenn A. May, History
Robert M. Mazo, Chemistry
James M. O’Fallon, Law
Stanley A. Pierson, History
Myron Rothbart, Psychology
Cheyney Ryan, Philosophy
Everett G. Smith, Geography
Davison E. Soper, Physics
Joe A. Stone, Economics
James A. Weston, Biology
George A. Wickes, English
Arnulf Zweig, Philosophy
Excuse me, I just woke up from a long, deep sleep, and people around here are abuzz. But I must still be dreaming: they tell me this guy
http://www.ous.edu/state_board/doneganbio
is leading our state’s higher education system now and is also on something called the Oregon Education Investment Board, to whom we will all be bowing soon…
I so want to and can’t wait to vote no confidence in the current Chancellor of the State System of Higher Education or in the current State Board of Higher Education. But I don’t see its on tomorrow’s meeting agenda.
How’d that work out back in ’87?
got us at least a minimally credible chancellor, someone who helped briefly, then went on to get fired as head of suny system for RL like defiance and excellence mongering. from a ghost of geezer past keep the faith