Former University law school dean and current president David Frohnmayer knows enough about debate to realize one should have an accurate data base before challenging another. That is most evident in his unsuccessful effort in The Register-Guard to rebut the valid criticism by professor Nathan Tublitz of his athletics policies.
Though he is vastly superior to another president leaving office, George W. Bush, Frohnmayer is similar to Bush in the weak efforts they both muster to mislead us about achievements during their time in office. His excessive spending on athletics has ruined the legacy he hoped to leave at the University.
The symbol of that tragedy has been hiring a know-nothing-about-sports athletics director, Pat Kilkenny, with the mandate to spend, spend, spend. Kilkenny’s personal investment in University athletics should have been a warning, as many suspect his major donation helped buy out the contract of his predecessor, Bill Moos.
That mistake was compounded by financial malfeasance in pursuing an unneeded new basketball gym for $250 million, hiring a baseball coach for hundreds of thousands annually, building a baseball stadium for $15 million, and committing more than $1 million a year to hire a head football coach with no previous head coaching experience.
Frohnmayer will leave the University holding the bag – a bag of unpaid bills at a time when a deteriorating national economy dictates saving instead of wasteful spending.
[email protected]