As of Friday morning, apparently, the Chancellor's inner circle have all been fired, effectively immediately, email accounts closed, etc. Including Elizabeth Lowry, Mike Rivault, Aundrea Kloor, and Michele Montegut.
So the "house-cleaning" has begun. And you would have a hard time finding ten people on campus who are sorry about this.
But....
The original goal of this blog was to provide a forum for change to come from within, from faculty, staff, and students. While we wanted to see a vote of no-confidence, this takeover by the system is not something to be celebrated. And the summary firings, no matter how well deserved, will set a precedent no one wants to see. A dictatorship is fine-- so long as the dictator is on your side. And if Lombardy proves to be not on UNO's side, Ryan could start to look good to a lot of people who weren't that familiar with the workings of the administration.
The senate's resolution, copied below, is perhaps not that bad... Notice that it says nothing about a reinstatement; it only urges that the academic community be involved in selecting the next Chancellor, and that Joe King be the interim chancellor, as he would normally be in the Chancellor's absence.
Here is the resolution:
Resolution Regarding Unexplained Dismissal of Chancellor Timothy P. Ryan
Be it resolved that the University Senate, as the representative body of the faculty and staff of the University of New Orleans, urges that the LSU Board of Supervisors include our voice in our future. To that end, we assert our earned and deserved right to govern our campus.
We find the summary and unexplained dismissal of Timothy P. Ryan as our Chancellor and the concomitant appointment of an LSU System governing panel unacceptable and unwarranted.
We urge the LSU Board of Supervisors to appoint our Provost, Dr. Joe M. King, as Interim Chancellor of the University of New Orleans until a permanent chancellor is appointed.
We further resolve that the University of New Orleans faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders be integrally included in the search and selection process.
Resolution unanimously adopted by the UNO University Senate: September 16, 2010
WTUL News & Views would like to speak with UNO faculty about the firing of Tim Ryan and the assumption of his position by John Lombardi. We can keep speakers anonymous if necessary.
ReplyDeletePlease email wtulnews@gmail.com ASAP if you can be available in the next few days to comment. Thank you!
WTUL News & Views airs on 91.5 FM in New Orleans on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8-10AM.
Reinstatement never came up at the Senate meeting. Instead, the clear, commonly held belief is that this is an outside coup. Neal Maroney was to meet with Lombardi this week to arrange the long-overdue review of Ryan, but instead, Lombardi launched his own takeover. I am gravely, gravely concerned about this. Go google into the long association of Lombardi and Gargano in Massachusetts. This is not good for UNO.
ReplyDeleteThe only way this can come out without utter devastation is to keep political heat on Lombardi to remain hands-off. UNO's poor PR history is not a good sign here. We are going to have to learn to be much more vocal than we have been in the past. It was Ryan's public accusation of Lombardi that prompted Lombardi to be as politic as he was in announcing that UNO has its own identity and will continue so. We need more noise like that. As soon as the public pressure is off they will begin working behind the scenes on their own agendas.
ReplyDeleteRivault has not left the building. No reason to cut him loose. He represented the Chancellor to the media when he was hiding, but he was not an evil goon.
ReplyDeleteUNO has had little press coverage over the past five years. No one told the story of our remaining open during Fall 2005; our off-campus presence has been woefully ignored. If that was Rivault's responsibility, he didn't do well at it. We're invisible until bad news is reported.
ReplyDeleteRecruitment, too, is woeful. LSU harms us at every turn, but still, every other institution in the state has had better luck attracting students, while UNO actually has the better programs. Our film studies, jazz studies, creative writing, engineering, HRT, international studies programs - all are excellent. Our education degrees feed excellent teachers into not just the struggling Orleans parish public schools, but the high achieving schools in St. Tammany. Our chemistry department pulls in significant amounts of research money. Our drama department continually wins recognition in national competitions for playwriting and production. We know how to work with non-traditional, working students and traditional freshmen alike. Who is telling these stories? Why is our marketing so abyssmally bad? The billboards I've seen place our logo where it can't be seen and in a size too small to register with passing motorists. The MBA ads on nola.com contain a riot of fonts and are unreadable against a putrid blue background. Surely we can hire advertising professionals and not just make this up as we go. We are graduating people more skilled in graphic design and marketing than those in our own marketing department!
Neal Maroney was to meet with Lombardi this week to set up the long-desired review of Ryan; I believe a vote of no confidence might have been called sooner, or certainly after such a review was conducted. But this hostile takeover has to be fought, whatever one thinks of Ryan's performance the past few years. Take some time and start making some noise.
ReplyDeletehttp://speakoutforuno.wordpress.com/
provost Joe "my job is to implement the cuts" King's eyes glaze over. He seems eager to help! lol!
ReplyDeletepart 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3_4hzmfs9o
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgbKlLC32ZI
Wow! Joe King is actually on camera at the first url above saying "my (our?) job is to implement the cuts"!!! And he can't even pronounce exigency! He's our new (acting) chancellor?!
ReplyDeleteNo, Joe King is not the new chancellor. Lombardi, Gargano and Hargrave are our three-headed hydra of a chancellor. I wish you occupyla folks would figure out that the enemy is the LSU System. You're continuing the find leftist tradition of forming a circular firing squad.
ReplyDeleteI like how the protestors explained to Joe King that they want and end to budget cuts. Oh! Why didn't you say so earlier? Okay, stop the cuts. No problem! Great idea; can't imagine why no one else has thought of it.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to read a dictionary and learn the distinction between goals and strategies.
oh, a dictionary? wow, i wish we'd thought of that! it's not like we have been involved in social movements for years and years or anything. it's not like we've read histories of revolutionary movements as diverse as West Papuan tribal rebels, French Situationists, and the civil right movement or anything. Administrators who are not hunger striking on the god damn steps of the capitol at this point and leading campus strikes are not on our side, faculty or student. wake up!
ReplyDeletewe are not forming a leftists firing squad either, we are committed to supporting and encouraging every single act taken and voice raised against these cuts. let's see Joe King at the next protest, let's see him lead the call for a strike, let's see him guarantee support for any faculty who try to unionize, organize, or strike to resist these cuts.
Administration as a growing percent of the budget is a trend nationwide, and we are no exception. the bloat at the top is sinking us at the bottom, and we recognize a critique of this problem as central to stopping UNO from being run like a business and finding the money to keep higher education afloat in our state.
Ultimately what matters is building a movement, not petty sniping at one another. thanks for your input, though! see you at the next action, right?
Can anyone find out when Lombardi is scheduled to be on campus for a few inquiring organizers? I'm sure there are administration people who would let us in on a little info, seeing as Lombardi is steamrolling through our campus right now. A list of dates and times for the next month would make you the angel of the resistance! Let us know at neworleansstudents@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Saving UNO isn't about forming a social movement. Don't let outside political goals distract from UNO's situation.
ReplyDeleteRivault has no clue how to market UNO. Last year he previewed a website update to the Senate, but so far, nothing has been updated. He says openly in meetings that he wants to "brand" UNO but doesn't know what our brand is. We have 50 years of solid history educating fine students and building the New Orleans middle class! He says New Orleans is a negative. Tell that to the Saints.
ReplyDeletePlease, for the love of God, give up on Rivault and hire someone who actually loves and respects this university.
Andy Benoit - you make a great football coach but if you can't reach every high school student from here to Hammond, personally, you aren't recruiting for UNO.
saving UNO must be part of a social movement to save higher education in the whole state, otherwise we will not be able to save it.
ReplyDeleteto restrict all activities to lobbying legislators is to doom ourselves to failure. they care about PR, and it is bad PR when campuses are protesting budget cuts to higher education.
in California last year, they had over a dozen occupations, 2 statewide strikes, marches on the capitol with 100,000 people, faculty unions fighting to save jobs, etc... and the cuts STILL went through. the only place the fight against cuts has been successful so far has been in Puerto Rico last semester, where a semester long strike and occupation of the university was what it took to stop the cuts.
Our only hope of success, if we can't organize that level of widespread strike action, is to be as loud and disruptive of a voice as we can so that when our voice is combined with the voices of people across the nation fighting budget cuts in their states, perhaps the federal government will step in with emergency funding measures for higher education on a national level. that is our only realistic hope of success, but if the federal level never even hears about our pain, they are less likely to do anything.
So we need to raise hell before the state raises layoff and tuition levels again.
hey blogger-
ReplyDeleteplease keep this blog going, it is sorely needed.
we need to keep the pressure building to get rid of Lombardi and stop his use of UNO PD and now NOPD as his personal goon squad and protection service.
faculty need to be talking and getting organized to speak with a united voice so that no individuals can be targeted for speaking out.
strength through unity is the way to overcome fear!
professors should never have to be afraid of speaking out! it is completely antithetical to the idea of a university, and sets a HORRIBLE example for all the students attending UNO.
speak out, stand up for each other, and stand up against fear, intimidation, and cowardice! the cuts are coming and 35% means many faculty will lose their jobs REGARDLESS of how meek and quiet and unnoticed they try and make themselves. wake up! fight back! stand up united as one force.
together all the little fish can eat the big fish!
I am trying. Let's try to move the comments to the most recent post....
ReplyDelete