Friday, September 17, 2010
LSU’s Official Arrogance
Posted by Clancy DuBos on Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 5:04 PM
The headline in the morning paper summed it up well: “LSU fires Ryan as UNO chancellor.” Tim Ryan was sacked by the good ol’ boys of the LSU System because he refused, as he put it, to play the game with LSU staff.
- In a follow-up interview with Gambit, Ryan said his departure had its roots in the days after Hurricane Katrina, when certain people at LSU wanted to use the storm as an excuse to clip UNO’s wings — or even shut it down.
- “I was told specifically to fire most of our faculty and staff by [LSU System attorney] Ray Lamonica, using force majeure as the excuse to void their contracts,” Ryan said. “I said it would destroy the university for decades. I told Mr. Lamonica that we could get federal funds to stay open. His response was, ‘If you think you’re going to get federal funds, you’re just stupid.’
- Ryan adds that Lamonica “actively tried to do things to make sure that he was right. He tried to keep us from getting federal funds.” The deposed chancellor concluded by saying, “In the LSU system, you can’t buck Ray Lamonica.”
- Ryan’s story rings true for several reasons. What happened to UNO after Katrina reflected a larger pattern by some — not nearly all — in the Baton Rouge area to “pilfer” the best parts of New Orleans after the storm. There was open talk — even an official movement called “10/12” (denoting the I-10 and I-12 corridors around New Orleans) — of moving everything worth saving out of the city. The LSU Medical School in New Orleans was part of the equation. Thankfully, those ideas went nowhere. But in that context, Ryan’s claims resonate.
- LSU officials deny forcing Ryan out. They say Ryan offered to resign and his resignation was accepted “in a reasoned, well-thought-out manner,” according to LSU spokesman Charles Zewe. Technically, Ryan did offer to resign, but it was couched in a recent letter in which he laid out requests for help from LSU officials. He says he was effectively forced to resign.
- I believe the former chancellor’s version of events, but I must disclose that I’m a UNO alum. I was a student there when UNO, under founding Chancellor Homer Hitt, had to fight almost daily to establish and maintain itself as a university — and not the proverbial redheaded stepchild of LSU. What happened to Ryan is merely the latest chapter in an old, ongoing story of LSU’s arrogance and heavy-handedness.
- This much is certain: Ryan was proven right. UNO got federal funds and made it through the year. In fact, it was one of the few local institutions that did NOT shut down completely after the storm.
- I’ve written before of LSU’s official arrogance — specifically, how LSU overplayed its hand in dealing with Tulane, local residents, lawmakers and others regarding the new medical complex in Mid-City. Gov. Bobby Jindal, to his credit, stepped in several times to trim LSU’s sails — and those of System President John Lombardi, who has installed himself as the new interim chancellor of UNO.
- Talk about heavy-handed.
- Lombardi met with UNO students last Friday; we’ll see if he can calm things down. If UNO’s fortunes don’t improve soon, Jindal should step in — again — to remind LSU who’s in charge.
- No doubt some at LSU are laughing up their sleeves right now. But, come next spring, when lawmakers return to Baton Rouge to discuss severe cuts to higher education, those same LSU mullahs might notice that the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate are both UNO grads.
- Payback is a bitch.
Comments (11)
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Any truth to the rumor that Ryan forced the athletic department to a lower NCAA level so he could get his hands on a multi-million dollar endowment/contribution? I was told that it was a contribution solely for the use of the athletic department so Ryan got his hands on it but dropping the athletic program. The endowment then got disbursed to the college's generla fund. If so, he deserved what he got in the firing.
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Love this article. LSU is too haughty. Especially in a state that should be united. LSU strives to divide. Keep going UNO. Oh and Roll Tide.
That endowment has not been dispersed. It's a will, in contest, and not in UNO's General Fund. There are a number of lies and rumors spread by a contingent of folks who cannot cope with the loss of UNO's Division III status. They have no loyalty to UNO, just to their single interest in UNO sports. Shame on them.
A great start on your upcoming cover story on the fate of NOLA's biggest university and important economic, social and cultural engine...? Think of how many readers are eager to read more than they're getting elsewhere. More, please!
So the "good ole boys" waited five years to get rid of Ryan and finally acted? Perhaps they also created the budget crisis the state faces to give cover to this dastardly deed. The fact is cuts are being made across the state budget. Education is being hit hard on every campus. Ryan works for the LSU system, he didn't want to implement the policies of his superiors and he resigned. Your article is based on speculation, but at least you admit your bias.
I agree with Alex's post. I would like to see the Gambit cover this issue in great detail. It needs all the coverage it can get.
WOW -- Chancellor Ryan's analysis on LSU Attorney Ray Lamonica underscores what a growing chorus has been warning about another LSU project -- the "Taj-ma-hospital" in Lower Mid-City. I urge Gambit to investigate deeper this new UMC Management Corporation, extolling a private-public partnership to get around public meeting laws and the the state bond cap to expropriate land for a private-practice LSU project -- turning upside down our public hospital system and bringing beyond public scrutiny machinations which make the scuttling of UNO small in comparison. While Chancellor Ryan certainly had his shortcomings, I was never prouder to remain a UNO student following Hurricane Katrina, when UNO staff worked out of a side room of the LSU System Office in Baton Rouge to revive UNO for the fall of 2005. Ryan is on target in assessing the thrust which LSU attempted to force upon UNO that semester -- Ryan's commitment, coupled with a hard-working staff and faculty -- all displaced by the storm -- came together to salvage our semester and school. They all -- as well as the 6,000 of us students who returned that semester saved not only UNO but arguably Gentilly and adjacent neighborhoods from mass green-spacing. We need to remain watchful that LSU not try to re-appropriate just-released FEMA funds for Hurricane Katrina damages of UNO campus buildings and infrastructure for its own whims. I hope that Chancellor Ryan will remain outspoken as we of the UNO community (I am now a MA candidate this term) as we face Hurricane Lamonica once again.
This is a great post! I'm a UNO graduate student and am very disheartened by LSU's hostile takeover of a university that serves the New Orleans area so well! Gambit should keep up the good coverage!
join the movement at UNO: http://occupyla.wordpress.com there is a link to us on facebook on the website, too. STOP THE CUTS! CHOP FROM THE TOP!
As a UNO alum who wants desperately to come home and help rebuild, I'm floored by Lombardi's dictatorial actions and his inept "deaf, dumb, and blind" comments just steps from UNO's TRAC facility. If Dr. Ryan was coerced into declaring force majeure which brought the AAUP down on UNO (and other institutions), was that coercion legal? UNO was first to regroup post-Katrina, yet Tulane gets all the national media attention and donations. The Sandbar/Cove is just now beginning to look like a building again. Maybe a class action suit by alumni, students, staff, and faculty and the City of New Orleans would get the regents' attention.
Thanks for the post-- unlike recent coverage by the Times Pic and TV news, this acknowledges at least some of the history and politics behind the headlines. Please write more! The public deserves to know more about state plans for the city's largest university. Public higher education is crucial to the success of our recovery and the long-term health of New Orleans. A weakened UNO will have dire consequences for our city.
