Faculty Members Call For Resignation Of U Of I President
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (CBS) -- An effort by some University of Illinois faculty members to oust President Michael Hogan continues.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Conway reports, Hogan was hired less than a year ago, following a scandal in which students with political connections allegedly were favored for admission to the university, despite lacking the necessary academic qualifications.
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Now, 130 faculty members are demanding the board of trustees replace him, saying they have no confidence in Hogan's leadership. They issued a letter last week demanding that he step down.
Among the faculty members who signed the letter were Nobel Prize winner Anthony Leggett, Pulitzer Prize winner Leon Dash and most of the university's endowed chairs and professors. Entomology professor May Berenbaum, who served on the search committee that recommended Hogan, also signed the letter, the Chicago Tribune reported.
"In our view (Hogan) lacks the values, commitments, management style, ethics, and even manners, needed to lead this university, and his presidency should be ended at the earliest opportunity," the letter said.
The letter criticizing Hogan laid out faculty complaints that have been building against him for months. Among other things, there have been complaints about anonymous letters sent to faculty leaders trying to blunt their criticism of an enrollment management plan favored by Hogan.
An investigation concluded the emails likely were written by Hogan's then-chief of staff, Lisa Troyer, who has since resigned but moved into a tenured teaching position. She denies she wrote the emails. The investigation found that Hogan neither wrote nor distributed the emails.
The letter also criticized Hogan for other steps the authors say threaten the autonomy of the three campuses.
The faculty members also accuse Hogan of usurping the authority of the campus chancellor, lacking financial discipline, and trying to bully the chancellor and faculty into falling in line on enrollment issues, the Tribune reported.
The chairman of the board of trustees says the board continues to support Hogan.
A school spokesman says Hogan wants to meet with his critics and will likely accept an invitation to do so. But he has no intention of resigning.
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