Turns out that promoting Helfrich without interviewing a qualified minority candidate — or at least making a good-faith attempt to find such a candidate — would violate Oregon law.
Three years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed pioneering legislation that made Oregon the first state in the nation to require its public universities to interview a qualified minority candidate before hiring a head coach or athletic director. The bill had overwhelming support in both chambers of the Legislature, passing the Senate with all 29 senators present voting yes.
Randy Geller may well come up with some sham to allow Johnson Hall to claim we are following the letter but not the spirit of this well intentioned law. But remember this is a university that doesn’t even hold open public searches for president or provost. Not going to happen for something important like a coach.
VP for Equity Yvette Alex-Assensoh has posted an ad for a new AVP. Minimum qualifications:
Ph.D. in any field and three years’ experience in program development for faculty, staff and students in higher education, including experience in developing campus-wide diversity programs, initiatives, workshops, conferences, and efforts for students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, three years of experience in managing program budgets for campus-wide entities.
And she will hold 3 campus wide meetings on diversity plans this coming week:
The first of the town hall meetings will be from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, in the EMU’s Oak Room. The second will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 10, in the EMU’s Board Room. The third will be from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 11, in the EMU’s Rogue Room.
Get rid of Kelly & take the salary down many millions of dollars.
Notice in the frenzy of a Bowl Winning game, Chipper may be bowing out before the big pile of legal mess re questionable recruiting practices get dealt with!
No wonder he’s chomping at the bit to exit, before the you know what hits the fan.
Oops. Looks like he wasn’t chomping at the bit. Good thing you didn’t put your name on that post!
You got that right. Like Pete Carroll’s USC exit strategy to the Seattle Seahawks after the NCAA came knocking on his door…
Geller has an easy out:
http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb3100.dir/hb3118.en.pdf
(b) Interview one or more qualified minority applicants
when hiring a head coach or athletic director, unless the
institution was unable to identify a qualified minority applicant
who was willing to interview for the position. It is an
affirmative defense to a claim of a violation of this paragraph
that the institution, in good faith, was unable to identify a
qualified minority applicant who was willing to interview for the
position.
Looks like Kelly may be staying put after all. Uncle Phil must have opened the vault.
And Rob found a way to put the hot tub back in the Chipper’s new office.
Kelly relies on intimidation. Can’t do that in the big leagues.
Great reporting on a non-story.