More on White Resignation and Upcoming U of I Decisions from Current and Former Trustees

A new member of the University of Illinois' Board of Trustees says talks could begin as soon as Thursday morning on seeking out an interim replacement for President B. Joseph White.

In Chicago, Karen Hasara and the two other members of the Ad Hoc Committee on University Personnel Matters are scheduled to meet Thursday for the first time. The former Springfield Mayor says initial discussions towards appointing that interim could be part of that meeting. Most of it is expected to take place in closed session.

Hasara says she respects White for stepping down, saying it was probably in the best interest of the university. But she's unsure yet about what the fate of Urbana Chancellor Richard Herman should be.

"We really haven't gotten into details of what to do about that", says Hasara. "We've gotten letters, quite a few letters in support of him, and of course, the faculty vote not in support. But that will be the next big decision, I believe --- besides an interim

Hasara says she still needs time to read up on all the reports on improper admissions at the U of I, and who was responsible for them. But she says it will be important to get all Trustees together to discuss the future of university leadership.

Meanwhile, David Dorris --- one of the trustees who resigned in the wake of the admissions scandal --- also commends White for deciding to step down. But Dorris says White was not an effective president, and a change was in order.

Dorris says that after contacts with other former trustees, he believes that a majority of them shared his view. He says they arrived at that conclusion, before the admissions scandal broke. "We just thought it was time for a change in direction for the University of Illinois" says Dorris, "because his leadership as the president had been ineffective, and we thought that we could do better."

Dorris accuses White of mishandling the Global Campus project, and events leading up to the retirement of Chief Illiniwek ---although he doesn't include the Chief's retirement itself as a count against him. Dorris also says that the administration under White circumvented the board's rehiring policy, meant to keep employees from collecting a U of I pension and working for the university at the same time. And he accuses White of keeping 30-million dollars off the university's books without telling the board --- money that suddenly appeared in time to pay skyrocketing utility bills.

Dorris was alarmed by Governor Pat Quinn's comments on a Chicago radio station Wednesday morning suggesting that a replacement for White might be named that very day. That's turned out not to be the case, but Dorris says he's concerned that Quinn might be trying to engineer what should be the board's choice of an interim and eventually a permanent president for the university. Quinn has said it will be up to the Board of Trustees to decide White's successor.

David Dorris was one of seven U of I trustees who resigned in the wake of the admissions scandal --- only one, Ed MacMillan, was reappointed by Quinn. Dorris says the next U of I president needs to be a genuinely excellent choice, with stronger academic credentials in place of White's business background.