{"id":4409,"date":"2015-09-29T18:17:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T22:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/?p=4409"},"modified":"2015-09-30T12:59:26","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T16:59:26","slug":"big-changes-coming-for-university-of-louisville-board-of-trustees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/big-changes-coming-for-university-of-louisville-board-of-trustees\/","title":{"rendered":"Big\u00a0 Changes Coming For University of Louisville Board of Trustees."},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Gerth is reporting several\u00a0block-buster announcements<\/a> in today\u2019s\u00a0 on-line Courier-Journal regarding the UofL Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Kentucky Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jack Conway has apparently announced the opinion of his office that Governor Beshear \u201cbroke the law\u201d in not re-appointing an African- American to the UofL Board of Trustees.<\/li>\n
  2. Newly appointed Trustee Paul Diaz counts as a \u201cminority,\u201d but that the Board is still unbalanced. The proper standard is not yet announced.<\/li>\n
  3. Established Board member Steve Wilson has resigned.<\/li>\n
  4. Governor Beshear says he will appoint an African-American to replace Mr. Wilson.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As of this writing, this\u00a0is still breaking news. I found\u00a0no confirmation of any of this on the Attorney General\u2019s or Governor\u2019s official websites and I have no independent verification of any of the reported facts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> Indeed, specifics are still changing as of late this afternoon as to what would or should be considered a proper balance of race on the UofL Board \u2013 specifically whether a statewide or local\u00a0standard should be considered.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the situation presenting itself is one of the two possible solutions to a difficult solution that I proposed\u00a0earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    [Addendum 9-30-2015: Several documents and\u00a0responses became available confirming the above. Links to these\u00a0are at\u00a0the end of this article. Based on the relevant statutes, I\u00a0come\u00a0to different conclusions than the Attorney General and Governor and will discuss these further in future\u00a0post.]<\/em><\/p>\n

    There will be much more said about this in coming days by many, but I offer the following comments at this time.<\/p>\n

    List of potential candidates is now wide open.<\/b>
    \nAs I concluded from a close reading of the two statutes controlling the Board     Nominating Committee<\/a> and the specific make-up of UofL\u2019s Board<\/a>, the fact that a current Board member has resigned means that the Governor is no longer constrained to the short list presented to him by the Postsecondary Nominating Committee.\u00a0 That is in my opinion a good thing because the Governor is now able to reach beyond the group of UofL insiders, including those with strong sports connections and loyalties, or those who have\u00a0 already expressed their personal gratitude to UofL President James Ramsey.\u00a0 The Governor need not necessarily reappoint any previous African-American Trustee or any other person on the earlier list of recommended candidates.\u00a0 After all, that list itself was fatally flawed from the start by failing to follow existing law!<\/p>\n

    The wrong trustee resigned.<\/b>
    \nThis is not the first time Trustee Steve Wilson has resigned.\u00a0 He did so once before \u2013 seemingly in protest\u2013 on the grounds that he was not given the information necessary to do his job, and that insufficient opportunities for Board discussion were provided. The Governor did not accept that earlier resignation.\u00a0 Mr. Wilson is the Trustee who was quoted as saying that, \u201cSometimes loyalty means asking questions.\u201d\u00a0 It troubles me that this conscientious, effective, and respectful trustee is the one taking the hit for the team. Not a good sign!<\/p>\n

    If what we have is wrong, what is right?<\/b>
    \nConcluding that the current makeup of the Board is wrong does not hand us an automatic answer as to what is right.\u00a0 The Kentucky statute only requires that the composition of the UofL Board of trustees represent the state-wide proportion of racial minorities. It does not require or even allow that a different local urban or rural standard be applied. If urban areas with higher numbers of individuals of racial minorities are allowed greater-than state-wide representation, does it follow that state colleges in non-urban areas with few minorities need not have any<\/span> minority representation?\u00a0 If the current UofL Board has one designated African-American and one designated Hispanic, can it really be said that it is out of balance with statewide racial minority representation?\u00a0 By     my count<\/a> it is not.\u00a0 But even if the current Board is legal, is it right?\u00a0 A reasonable person\u2013 and I include myself as one\u2013 can look at the current composition of the UofL Board of Trustees and conclude that something is wrong.\u00a0 In fact, several things<\/a> are demonstrably wrong. \u00a0[I suggest that composition of the rest of the governing boards of the UofL corporate empire needs to be looked at through the same lens.]<\/p>\n

    I know it when I see it.<\/b>
    \nThe statutes do not define \u201cminority\u201d nor indicate how many different minorities need to be \u201cin balance\u201d at the same time.\u00a0 The     U.S. census data<\/a> that specifies the current but changing benchmark of racial representation required for the Board makes it clear that we as individuals can be\u00a0unsure, uncomfortable, or unwilling to be characterized by our ethnic background or the color of our skin.\u00a0 I know I am.\u00a0 Consider all the overlapping self-reported categories in Kentucky. Is \u201cHispanic\u201d really a racial minority if such an individual can be of any race?\u00a0 How dark or light does my skin have to be, or how many ancestors of a designated race do I need to be considered white or black or yellow or red or anything in-between?\u00a0 We have been down those sometimes legally-defined roads before and not always to a good end.\u00a0 As a physician, if I were to close my eyes, I could not tell my black patients from my white ones, or for that matter patients of any hue. However our society collectively makes those distinctions very well indeed, and justice and equity have been ill-served.<\/p>\n

    Therefore, as much as I do not like the principle of dividing and counting people up by color or ethnic heritage, I do not know how to better insure that the assemblages of people we choose (or are chosen for us) to lead in our public affairs truly represent the experience and wisdom of all of us. I don\u2019t know how many African-Americans need to be on the UofL Board to make it right, but it needs to be more than we have now.\u00a0 One more at this time is a first step in the right direction and I commend the Governor should he take it.<\/p>\n

    Respectfully,
    \nPeter Hasselbacher<\/p>\n

    Relevant documents and responses to AG Opinion:
    \n<\/strong>Opinion of Office of     Attorney General<\/a> 9-29-2015. (PDF)
    \nLetter from     Mr. Steve Wilson<\/a>, 9-29-2015. \u00a0(PDF)
    \nStatement by     Governor Beshear,<\/a> 9-29-2015. (PDF)
    \nStatement by     W. Louisville Minister’s Coalition<\/a>, 9-29-2015. (PDF)<\/p>\n

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