BeaverPoke
Well-known member
Dear Editor,
What’s this I read on the front page of Friday’s edition of the Laramie Boomerang? Yet another University of Wyoming dean “resigned” (translation: resigned before current UW President Robert Sternberg fired him).
I am a resident of Laramie and have never been employed by UW, but one does not need to be a UW employee in this small town to hear about the damage that is being done to our beloved University under President Robert Sternberg’s short tenure — God forbid, the destruction he will wreak should he be allowed to complete his over-priced three-year contract.
I’m praying that won’t happen, that the UW Trustees will — finally — come to their senses (before they all begin to look like fools) and admit they made a dreadful mistake, and fix it ASAP.
I am not against change, believing that well-thought out and constructive change is good for any institution. This is not the kind of change I have observed over the past four — yes, it is only four — months.
A botanic garden on campus? Seriously? In Laramie’s climate? And where is the funding for this? An expensive search firm for a vice-president of administration that cannot produce a viable candidate? And where is that funding source? Yet another consulting firm hired to “study” what Sternberg perceives to be a problem with any number of UW departments? An annual $40,000 housing allowance and the UW president rents a UW-owned property for $1,000 a month? House-hunting in Colorado? Gee, and we all believed him when he stated — numerous times — how much he loves the Cowboy State. Not.
Replacing Tom Burman and Larry Shyatt? Better think twice on that one. Shyatt and Burman are both well-respected and well-liked professionals in the state and the region; asking for their resignations would be yet another serious and inept blunder.
Yes, the UW president has already made quite a name for himself in what may be remembered, by the few professionals who remain there, as four of the longest months ever in Old Main history.
It seems to me that most of the “ethical leaders” we did have at UW have been forced to resign and publically excoriated by the current UW president before they even left the building.
His unabashed criticism of a former UW president, and former administrators whom he has forced out are embarrassingly unprofessional and one might even call unethical.
Those he has removed by “resignation” were extremely competent professionals who valued and respected our much-loved institution and performed their jobs with the shared goal of making the university a better place for our in-state as well as out-of-state students, future leaders and the state as a whole.
UW as the No. 1 land grant institution? Many Wyomingites are laughing at Sternberg’s endless and pointless pontifications on that subject — what ridiculous hyperbole.
We in Wyoming are realistic and practical. We know we have the smallest population of the 50 states and to attempt to establish his stated — over and over and over again — goal for UW is indeed humorous and demonstrates just how out of touch he really is with our great state.
We know we cannot be Harvard or Tufts, and guess what, we don’t want to be. What we want is what is the best for our students and our state — a good, solid education that has nothing to do with UW President Robert Sternberg’s particular demonstration of “ethical” leadership.
The fix for this unfortunate situation we Wyomingites find ourselves in?
Simple: Have Sternberg “resign.” That is the headline I hope to read soon. I’m an optimistic person, I believe that the correct and ethical decision will be made soon by our state and university leaders concerning our uniquely Wyoming institution before it is too late.
What’s this I read on the front page of Friday’s edition of the Laramie Boomerang? Yet another University of Wyoming dean “resigned” (translation: resigned before current UW President Robert Sternberg fired him).
I am a resident of Laramie and have never been employed by UW, but one does not need to be a UW employee in this small town to hear about the damage that is being done to our beloved University under President Robert Sternberg’s short tenure — God forbid, the destruction he will wreak should he be allowed to complete his over-priced three-year contract.
I’m praying that won’t happen, that the UW Trustees will — finally — come to their senses (before they all begin to look like fools) and admit they made a dreadful mistake, and fix it ASAP.
I am not against change, believing that well-thought out and constructive change is good for any institution. This is not the kind of change I have observed over the past four — yes, it is only four — months.
A botanic garden on campus? Seriously? In Laramie’s climate? And where is the funding for this? An expensive search firm for a vice-president of administration that cannot produce a viable candidate? And where is that funding source? Yet another consulting firm hired to “study” what Sternberg perceives to be a problem with any number of UW departments? An annual $40,000 housing allowance and the UW president rents a UW-owned property for $1,000 a month? House-hunting in Colorado? Gee, and we all believed him when he stated — numerous times — how much he loves the Cowboy State. Not.
Replacing Tom Burman and Larry Shyatt? Better think twice on that one. Shyatt and Burman are both well-respected and well-liked professionals in the state and the region; asking for their resignations would be yet another serious and inept blunder.
Yes, the UW president has already made quite a name for himself in what may be remembered, by the few professionals who remain there, as four of the longest months ever in Old Main history.
It seems to me that most of the “ethical leaders” we did have at UW have been forced to resign and publically excoriated by the current UW president before they even left the building.
His unabashed criticism of a former UW president, and former administrators whom he has forced out are embarrassingly unprofessional and one might even call unethical.
Those he has removed by “resignation” were extremely competent professionals who valued and respected our much-loved institution and performed their jobs with the shared goal of making the university a better place for our in-state as well as out-of-state students, future leaders and the state as a whole.
UW as the No. 1 land grant institution? Many Wyomingites are laughing at Sternberg’s endless and pointless pontifications on that subject — what ridiculous hyperbole.
We in Wyoming are realistic and practical. We know we have the smallest population of the 50 states and to attempt to establish his stated — over and over and over again — goal for UW is indeed humorous and demonstrates just how out of touch he really is with our great state.
We know we cannot be Harvard or Tufts, and guess what, we don’t want to be. What we want is what is the best for our students and our state — a good, solid education that has nothing to do with UW President Robert Sternberg’s particular demonstration of “ethical” leadership.
The fix for this unfortunate situation we Wyomingites find ourselves in?
Simple: Have Sternberg “resign.” That is the headline I hope to read soon. I’m an optimistic person, I believe that the correct and ethical decision will be made soon by our state and university leaders concerning our uniquely Wyoming institution before it is too late.
