A Conspiracy About Davila?
I’ve read the accusations flying around ever since the BoT announced the extension of Davila’s appointment to December 2009. I thought the speculations about Davila’s extended appointment becoming permanent with no time limits were unfounded. Let’s refresh the history. When Davila was appointed as the interim president, Gallaudet wasn’t placed on an academic probation by its accreditation agency. When the status of the university was altered few months later, the importance of focusing on addressing the problems raised by MSCHE became urgent. How can a university be able to expend any energy searching national-wide for a permanent president when the university is on fire?
The presidential search had been temporarily put on hold while the more pressing concerns were resolved. Since then, MSCHE has improved Gallaudet’s status considerably, but it is still not out of fire yet. The extension of the interim position is badly needed as Davila is doing a fantastic job so far. Doing a thorough search for a university president will take at least one year, preferably one and half years.
With the ambiguities and the significant omission of the extended deadline, the newspaper article implied that the position is permanent without any foundation to justify its inaccurate claim. Congratulation, Ms Honig, the GWU student reporter covering this story, you just flunked the holy grail rule of journalism. Do not publish before you do your homework and verify the accuracy of the information first.
School for deaf keeps president
Gallaudet keeps interim president without conducting a search
“More than one year after students at Gallaudet made national news by forcing its new president out of office, the school decided last week to keep its interim president without conducting a formal search process.”
P.S. Let me clarify this to avoid any potential misunderstanding. There is no conspiracy. Davila is still on the interim position, with an extension of one year, granted by the Board of Trustees. For someone who has been in this position for a short time, he had been doing an outstanding job. MZ
E mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
I’ve read the accusations flying around ever since the BoT announced the extension of Davila’s appointment to December 2009. I thought the speculations about Davila’s extended appointment becoming permanent with no time limits were unfounded. Let’s refresh the history. When Davila was appointed as the interim president, Gallaudet wasn’t placed on an academic probation by its accreditation agency. When the status of the university was altered few months later, the importance of focusing on addressing the problems raised by MSCHE became urgent. How can a university be able to expend any energy searching national-wide for a permanent president when the university is on fire?
The presidential search had been temporarily put on hold while the more pressing concerns were resolved. Since then, MSCHE has improved Gallaudet’s status considerably, but it is still not out of fire yet. The extension of the interim position is badly needed as Davila is doing a fantastic job so far. Doing a thorough search for a university president will take at least one year, preferably one and half years.
With the ambiguities and the significant omission of the extended deadline, the newspaper article implied that the position is permanent without any foundation to justify its inaccurate claim. Congratulation, Ms Honig, the GWU student reporter covering this story, you just flunked the holy grail rule of journalism. Do not publish before you do your homework and verify the accuracy of the information first.
School for deaf keeps president
Gallaudet keeps interim president without conducting a search
“More than one year after students at Gallaudet made national news by forcing its new president out of office, the school decided last week to keep its interim president without conducting a formal search process.”
P.S. Let me clarify this to avoid any potential misunderstanding. There is no conspiracy. Davila is still on the interim position, with an extension of one year, granted by the Board of Trustees. For someone who has been in this position for a short time, he had been doing an outstanding job. MZ
E mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
March 6th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
If the report is unfounded, are you saying
the Board has already started a search process?
If they have not, then report makes a valid
point regardless of the circumstances.
The first paragraph is either wrong or correct.
I would assume as long as there is no search
going on that will take 1-2 years, the board
is letting Bob Davila remain as more than an
interium President usually would. (I am not
certain but it seems Bob Davila is in the office longer than the one or two other Gallaudet
interium presidents).
March 6th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Utah is no different.
USDB still has interim superintendent. The search for replacement for Linda Rutledge was put on hold indefinitely while we have time to get law overhauled to comply with the reauthorized IDEA. Current Utah code is out of compliance in so many areas. The Legislature gave the Deaf more time to have the code completely rewritten and presented in 2009 seesion of Utah Legislature.
I don’t see any conspiracy or allegation about keeping Davila longer since Gally isn’t out of the pan fire yet. Can’t afford to spend resources on something else at same time. Keep focus on the major issue - getting Gally out of the pan fire first.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Iam sorry …I don’t follow ….. care to explain what is MSCHE ?
Thanks
Davy
March 6th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
When the BoT extended his stay, the original contract was rescinded as a result. We don’t know what the future will bring. All depends on the crisis of accreditation status being resolved or not.
The point is that these rumors are still allegations, as they have been circulating since last fall. However, since the reporter was stating them as facts without proof, she broke the cardinal rule. This won’t be an issue had she stated them clearly as allegations or rumors in the first place.
Davy, MSCHE stands for Middle States Commission on Higher Education, responsible for the accrediation of the colleges and universities.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Thank you explain the meaning… thank you.
Davy
March 6th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
When Davila was selected as an interim president, it was said that after his interim term expired, the board could extend it. So, what’s the big deal?
No where does it (article) imply that it is permanent!
Read carefully!
“keep its interim president without conducting a formal search process.”
Does not imply “permanent”. “Interim” still emphasized.
*Raises eyebrows quizzically*
March 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
it does when the topic is keep the interim president ‘without conducting a formal search process’, a process normally associated with a permanent president position and the significant omission of this information “the interim position extended to December 2009”
This can easily lead the readers to conclude that he is the permanent president, even though the word interim was used. I do not call that responsible journalism, with essential information being withheld. The ambiguities of this report actually reinforce the conspiracies spreading around the campus since last fall.
March 6th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
There are several reasons why the Board has not been able to start the search for the new President. One is because the Board has several members who resigned so they need to have a full board first. Six new members joined last month, so now they have a full Board. Also, of course is MSCHE, and it’s hard to recruit a good President when the school is on probation. It makes no sense to recruit until the University is out of deep water.
Also, look at what the GW writer said, ” The nationwide controversy surrounding the protest forced the board of trustees to remove Jane Fernandez, then the newly elected leader, who is deaf but has been able to speak since birth. The board also replaced her with Davila, who is also deaf.”
Please, Davila also has been able to speak since birth, and was born hearing. Students and faculty at Gallaudet love him. He is not a divisive figure who doesn’t listen like Jane Fernandes. He listens and appoints people like Steve Weiner, Isaac Agboola, and others who listen to the community.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Facts from Gallaudet:
Thank you for your responce. I completely
agree ith you that Gallaudet — both students
and faculty — love Dr. Davila. I have been
receiving many emails from prominent GU
alummni members saying that there is no
such thing as consiracy as the topic of
this blog is suggesting with a qustion mark.
Thank you, Mr. or Ms. Facts from Gallaudet, for
reassuring readers.
Ask not what Gallaudet can do for you;
Ask what YOU can do for Gallaudet.
Long Live Gallaudet!
JB
March 6th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Fact, thank you for bringing up multiple resignations from BoT and the time to search and appoint new BoT members, then the training. This is of utmost importance in getting to revamp Gallaudet system, starting with the new BoT. I agree about Davila.. People conveniently forget that he didn’t become deaf until the age of eight and can speak very clearly. It shows that deaf identity politics wasn’t a factor. *shaking head*
Jean, right, there is no conspiracy, hence my post counteracting this reporter’s article. I demonstrated how her article isn’t accurate.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Davila was sworn in as president in may of 2007…
March 7th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Yes he was. However, he wasn’t expected to serve permanently, but for limited time based on his contract.
March 7th, 2008 at 5:35 am
While I agree that we all should give the greatest benefit of the doubt to the Board of Trustees, I don’t think that we should become complacent with the given rationalizations. One reason is that the board has lost its credibility when it broke two promises (the promise to limit the term to no more than two years and the promise to begin the presidential search at the soonest). (I would add third promise that is to keep the term as interim but it is related to the first promise.) Second reason is that the board still has the power to extend the current term indefinitely.
The newspaper article written by Samantha Honig is not severely erroneous. It is one possibly valid albeit weak interpretation of the board’s actions (and inactions).
Joseph Pietro Riolo
josephpietrojeungriolo@gmail.com
Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Joseph, I agree that we shouldn’t become complacent, not with the history of BoT. However, my objection is that the reporter is deliberately misleading the public with the implications and withholding a significant information in that article, contrary to the expectation of a reporter to be forthcoming with correct information with no personal interpretation, according to the code of ethics in journalism. Her failure in impartiality and accuracy can lead into potentially serious political ramifications for the university.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
One of the major bullet points for ousting Fernandes was “flawed presidential search”. Although there was a search and it was passed through the Student Body and the BoT. Be that as it may, there has been NO search going on and you all sit here defending the BoT who you blame for appointing Fernandes.
Could it be that when they originally reopened the search and asked for candidates no one of any worth applied. Think about it for a second. Who would want that thankless job, for thankless people.
Sounds like Gallaudet is back to a communist regime.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
HJF, the face of the BoT changes from time to time. While blame was put for the previous BoT, it is important to let the current BoT exercise their responsibilities and support them again.
The previous search seemed to be an in-house plan: between previous Pres. I. J. King and the board to appoint the Provost. They had early warning
signals of appointing Jane Fernandes and disregarded them. It is no easy task for the SBG,
faculty and staff to add further to what they have
commented when Jane was selected as one of the three finalists. Instead of blaming the student body or the faculty, it is too obvious the final
decision BoT made was not wise.
Sen John McCain, who some have said served on the board for 5 years without sitting in a single meeting but had wrote a protest letter in resigning from the Board. Where was he when he expects to make a valid point? And other board members are longer there. Communication between the community and the Board has improved.
“Facts from Gallaudet” says it well above. I agree
Bob Davila is doing a good job and should have his interim position extended. The article stating there was a conspiracy is an overstatement to me.
We all know the Board had to appoint an interim immediately as I King Jordan was resigning within one or two months. They took the short-cut route out of necessity to appoint Bob Davila as an interim. My concern was he was not going to stay on long and the BoT would begin a search for the new president. But as time passed, it seems there is no priority in searching for a new president for two reasons: 1) the interim president is fulfilling the role positively, and 2) he is willing to extend his stay.
While a long process of selecting a president brought disaster, the BoT’s recent quick appointment of an interim worked more positively ,
I agree we need to give them and Bob Davila the support for the sake of Gallaudet.
March 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
The GWU reporter, like MZ said, violated the cardinal rule in journalism by reporting things as fact when they are just simply speculation or rumors.
As for Board of Trustees, I think right now with all the constant changes, it is a good idea to extend Davila’s contract for two reasons. 1) He is putting people in the right places that can lead the University where it should be going, and 2) He is preparing the Board of Trustees to be a stronger and better governing board for the University and its mission to be the best university in the world for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. That task alone for the president can either make the person sink or swim. In this time, a new president will be just join in the choas. It is like jumping in middle of the rushing river trying to swim. Davila has already been there before the probation and has considerably led the University to a better place and upgraded the status with MSCHE. I am sure once Gallaudet University reaches part of the river where it begins to calm down, which I hope is very soon, the Board of Trustees can start the national-wide search for the next President of Gallaudet University.