When former athletic director Mike Bellotti was bought out of his position for $2.3 million last year, University students and community members grew frustrated with the lack of transparency.
$2.3 million of an already-dwindling sports funding funneled directly into Bellotti’s pockets — and no contract was ever signed to
verify its validity.
Interestingly, the University didn’t even notice the lack of documentation until the buyout process began, after ignoring several requests from the Register-Guard and sending conflicting information on the terms of the settlement. People grew disillusioned and
demanded an explanation.
In the haze of confusion, the University removed its top lawyer from her position, organized various press conferences and
President Richard Lariviere vowed to increase the visibility of University activity.
This promise has been kept.
After spending several months in damage control mode, Lariviere has made himself an active open member of the campus.
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Lariviere went door-to-door with ASUO President Amelie Rousseau and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy. He wanted to greet people around campus, tell them what their rights and responsibilities were as members of the community and, most of all, address the concerns many had in regards to the Sept. 24 riot.
Instead of just issuing some speech, or writing some letter, he took it to the next level by coming directly to students and personally hearing them out.
Lariviere has also created the Office of Public Records and hired the school’s first-ever public records officer. Starting Oct. 11, Elizabeth Denecke will work under the President handling the 125-150 records requests the University receives annually.
It appears to be clear to Lariviere just how imperative it is for him to be as transparent as possible about his intentions, motives and actions. The backlash the administration received for their actions in the Bellotti ordeal has challenged Lariviere to implement some essential changes to our campus and he has done a good job thus far.
More changes will come and more questions will be addressed, but it appears as though we are on the right track to being able to say that something such as the Bellotti buyout will never happen again on our campus.
Information and public records from our administration are more accessible than ever. We owe thanks to our president, Richard Lariviere, for making the appropriate changes to make a horrible situation a lesson we all learned from and not a recurring fault in our system.
That guy in the cool fedora is trying to make our campus’ happenings as clear as the Jaqua Center — but not as exclusive.
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