The mismanagement at UT just didnt start last yr or yr before. The University has been mismanaged for almost 20 yrs. since Dr Joe Johnson left. Since then its been one embarrassing exit after another by people who should have never been hired.
Frankly, Im disappointed to hear so many instate high school grads electing to go out of state. I know many more whos children elect to go to Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina ,etc and they are outstanding students who can go most anywhere. Id like to see a strong commitment to attract Tennessees instate students at a higher percentage of instate like UNC and UGA do. That doesnt mean they have to lower academic levels but provide some better scholarship money. The objective of the land grant university of each state is to improve the quality of life in the state thru education. Cheek was full of ****.
Excellent post. Some of our younger members may not be aware of just how embarrassing some of these clowns were and how much damage they did to our University's reputation. I will briefly touch on the worst 3 that some may not remember or be aware of:
J. Wade Gilley, U.T. President 1999-2001: His short tenure was marked by his affair with a subordinate, Pamela Reed, and their lovelorn e-mails. He was the driving force behind her advancement in the U.T. system and the creation of an unnecessary department of which she was placed in charge.
This could have been dismissed as a one time bad hire except his successor was much worse...
John Shumaker, U.T. President 2002-2003: He resigned in the midst of a controversy over allegations of misused university resources. Among many things it was determined that Shumaker had - used a university-owned plane for personal use, used a university credit card for personal use, established a $300,000 consulting contract with a Washington D.C. attorney who just happened to be a long time friend and business partner of his without going through a bidding process and failed to tell the university that he was serving as a trustee of a college in Greece. After his resignation in August of 2003, an audit uncovered that he had also - incurred $165,000 in expenses for football related entertainment and $73,000 for holiday receptions. He also ordered $493,000 in renovations and new furnishings for his official residence which had been remodeled at a cost of $787,597 less than a year earlier. His unauthorized purchases for the home included - $97,350 for a new sun roof and closet, $77,270 to create two bedrooms for his sons, a new telecommunications system that cost $64,000, a $7,000 Persian rug, two $7,400 entertainment systems and of course, the infamous $4,822 gas grill. The Pride of the Southland Band made fun of this grill (BBQ) during the '04 Kentucky football game.
...and finally, this 3rd guy wasn't bad at all compared to the first 2 but still, it established that Tennessee simply wasn't capable of hiring competent leadership anymore.
John Petersen, U.T. President 2003-2009: His offences were relatively minor. He is mostly remembered for his crazy wife, Carol and for the resignation of a very popular Chancellor, Loren Crabtree. During a reception honoring the accomplishments of the Alliance of Women Philanthropists at the U.T. President's home, Carol Petersen basically made a fool of herself. She verbally attacked a major university donor and was banned from interacting with donors or staff members. This ban was later lifted after John submitted a written promise that in the future her activities on behalf of the university would be only in a volunteer capacity and that she would have no authority over anyone. By many accounts however, she remained a nuisance. The most damage resulting from Petersen's tenure was clearly the resignation of Chancellor Loren Crabtree who resigned in 2008... Crabtree gave this statement upon leaving, "The President and I have concluded that our differences over governance of the Knoxville campus make it no longer productive for me to serve as Chancellor." Retaining Petersen (for another year) but losing Crabtree was a blow to the University and the morale of the University staff.
