The Daily Illini
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The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
Vol. 141 Issue 148
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SHIFT IN LEADERSHIP
HOGAN’S SHORT RUN MARKED BY SCANDAL, STRIFE Faculty leaders called for president’s exit BY DARSHAN PATEL ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Just two years after the Category I admissions scandal, the board of trustees chose Michael Hogan to step in and repair the University’s reputation and fill high administrative positions. But even now, the leadership carousel has not come to a complete halt. President Hogan’s resignation was announced March 22, just two weeks after the trustees reviewed his performance in a closed-door emergency meeting. The meeting was called after a group of distinguished faculty members delivered a letter to the board asking for the embattled president’s resignation. The Urbana-Champaign Senate had also questioned Hogan’s decision-making ability on several occasions. After that meeting, Hogan took several steps toward trying to mend his rocky relationship with faculty members. However, that proved to be too little and too late as pressure mounted. Urbana faculty members who had spoken out against Hogan commended him for making his decision. “I think it’s a sad situation, and it’s unfortunate that we’ve reached this point,” said Nicholas Burbules, University Senates Conference vice chair, after the announcement. “I do respect the president for doing the right thing for the University. It couldn’t have been easy for him.”
Board of trustees Chairman Christopher Kennedy accepted Hogan’s resignation in a quick meeting March 23. In that meeting of the executive committee, the trustees appointed Robert Easter, former interim Urbana chancellor and vice president, as president-designate. Hogan — who earned more than $650,000 a year — will retain a faculty position at the campus of his choice but may face an internal investigation similar to the one his former chief of staff, Lisa Troyer, is currently going through at the Urbana campus. During his short-lived presidency, Hogan helped fill several key leadership positions, including the chancellor and vice president of the Urbana campus, Phyllis Wise and vice presidents Christophe Pierre, Lawrence Schook and Joe “Skip” Garcia. Even though debates about plans to unify admissions and financial aid procedures had been ongoing for months, Hogan was first scrutinized after Troyer was found to have allegedly sent anonymous emails to members of the University Senates Conference in early January. The faculty advisory group had been in the midst of contentious discussions about the enrollment management plan at that time. University spokesman Tom Hardy said in mid-January that he did not think the scandal would have any effect on Hogan’s presidency, adding that it “appears to be an incident where (Troyer) acted alone.”
See HOGAN, Page 3A PHOTO BY WILLIAM SHI THE DAILY ILLINI
UI President Michael Hogan, left, and UI Chancellor Phyllis Wise, right, walk together before the groundbreaking for the new Electrical and Computer Engineering building Oct. 7.
Chancellor Wise gets acquainted with campus during 1st year BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
Phyllis Wise has reached the end of her first year with the University. Wise came in with support from outgoing president Michael Hogan and the board of trustees, and president-designate Robert Easter has credited Wise’s hire as one of Hogan’s greatest achievements while at Illinois. “The entire board of trustees looks forward to supporting (Wise) and (her) efforts to bring great leadership to every college, every institute and every program at the
University,” said board Chairman Christopher Kennedy when Wise first visited the campus in August. “(Wise has) our support, and we will never let (her) down.” Despite conflicts with Hogan since then, she said it has not been hard for her to connect with faculty members and students, but she’s still working toward becoming closer to them as she continues her listening and learning tour — part of her “Visioning Future Excellence at Illinois” project. “I was enthusiastic about (Visioning Excellence),” she said.
“I have only met the very tip of the iceberg of faculty and students and staff, but if they are any indication of rest of the community, I can’t wait to meet more of them.” Wise said she was familiar with the University before her appointment, but she still is learning new things as a chancellor. “I was only partially educated; every day I learn about more things that are going on,” she said. “What I was really, really struck by when I got here was the warmth, the generosity, the openness and the roundedness of the
whole community but particularly the faculty, staff and students.” Wise said it took her time to become adjusted to the campus community. “When you move to a completely different place, and you don’t really know anybody ... it was a bit overwhelming, and it was a little intimidating,” she said. “But I think there was some parallelism between where I came from and the University — both great public universities that have some commonality.” Before Wise was appointed
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chancellor, Robert Easter held the interim chancellor position for two years. He’s now University president-designate, and Wise said she is looking forward to seeing what her predecessor will accomplish. “I’m very eager to work with him,” she said. “I worked with him pretty closely in terms of what he used to do as chancellor, and I found him to be practical, ambitious, visionary, thoughtful (and) inclusive.” She added that she has learned a lot over the past year and hopes to make a difference to the cam-
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More inside: Turn to Page 3A to read about Robert
Easter’s transition to the presidency and how he is adjusting to his role on campus.
pus for the upcoming school year. “I think we have had a good start, hearing from the community is critically important,” she said. “My view is that I shouldn’t have a vision on my own. It should be based upon what I listen to and hear and learn over the first several months and continue to learn over the entire period.”
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ALMA MATER
ILLINI MEDIA COMPANY
Campus icon to be removed for crack, stain repair
Daily Illini will not receive student fees for next year DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
In its Feb. 17 edition, The Daily Illini did things a little differently. Instead of its traditional frontpage coverage, that Friday’s front was instead a piece by the DI’s editorial board, which expounded on the news that had just broke about its parent company’s fiscal woes. “It’s not a surprise; other campus publications and even professional media outlets have been suffering cutbacks and running deficits for years,” the board wrote. “The landscape of news media is changing, and we, like so many others, are falling victim to the challenges of a changing news market.” The editorial solicited student support for a referendum that would implement a $3-persemester student fee to support the operations of the Illini Media Company, the DI’s parent organization. In early March, students voted in favor of that fee 1,809 to 1,212. But despite the referendum’s passing, the students will not be billed for the fee this year, as student fees for the 201213 school year were finalized at
Beloved statue could return green or bronze in 2013 BY LAUREN ROHR
MICHAEL BOJDA THE DAILY ILLINI
STAFF WRITER
After a thorough inspection of the renowned Alma Mater sculpture earlier this year, the University’s Preservation Working Group, or PWG, determined that the bronze statue would be temporarily removed for conservation purposes. Jennifer Hain Teper, conservation librarian and PWG chair, said the inspection showed clear evidence that the sculpture was in need of better care and that professionals needed to take a look at it. “Certainly nobody wants to see the sculpture leave, but everybody recognizes that it needs to be cared for,” Teper said. “If we
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The Alma Mater has experienced damage over the years; much of the statue's face has corroded away. The statue will be removed in August and will return before graduation next year. don’t do something to take care of it soon, we might see some serious damage to the sculpture in the next few years.” The $99,962 restoration will be completed by the Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio Inc. and will be paid for by the Chancellor’s Fund, a pool of money donated to the chancellor’s office from outside sources. Methods & Materials Inc. will take the statue down and move it to the studio. Originally, the sculpture was scheduled to be moved a week after commencement ceremonies this month and returned to
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its place at least a week before graduation in 2013 so graduating students could still have their pictures taken in front of it. Because of scheduling conflicts with the two companies, the Alma Mater will not be moved until August 2012, but Teper said this should not change the studio’s ability to complete the project and reinstall the statue on time. Melvyn Skvarla, campus historic preservation officer, said the sculptor of the Alma Mater, Lorado Taft, had intended for the sculpture to be touched and climbed on. As a result, however,
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the extra stress caused cracks to form over the years. In the 1981 repair of the sculpture, the University’s staff used caulk to cover some of these cracks. Skvarla said this caulk prevented water from getting inside, but it also prevented water from getting out, which is likely causing serious internal damage through oxidation. Until the studio can investigate the statue’s interior, it is unknown how extensive the conservation work is going to be, Skvarla said.
See ALMA MATER, Page 3A
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a board of trustees meeting in January. This is earlier than the spring meeting when tuition generally goes up for a vote. Renee Romano, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the earlier decision makes the University more competitive in recruiting students. She said by the time the student fee referendum came up in March, about 21,000 notices of next year’s student fees had been sent out. “We’re going to try to make it clear that if folks want any chance of getting a fee for the following year, they have to do it in the fall,” Romano said. This will leave Illini Media without student fees for at least the next academic year, with the fee’s future status depending on recommendations from a student advisory committee, the chancellor, the president and ultimately the board of trustees. “Because we will not be receiving the student fees this fall, further cuts may be necessary,” said Lil Levant, Illini Media publisher. “This is in large part because ad revenues have
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