Has anyone needed a summer vacation more than UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt? This year has just been another in a series that have seen one crisis after another develop on campus.
One of the first things that Leavitt had to deal with when he arrived here in Oshkosh a few years ago was budget cuts across all programs. So he decided to eliminate men’s soccer from the Athletic Department. But then at the press conference to answer questions about that decision, the soccer coach showed up and hijacked the proceedings–undressing Leavitt and Athletic Director Darryl Sims (verbally) before our microphones and the cameras of the Green Bay television stations.
Then came that winter weekend when Mid-Year Commencement had to be canceled due to an anticipated blizzard–that didn’t turn out to be that bad. Rather than be happy with getting their diplomas mailed to them while they went to work and started their careers, the newly-graduated snowflakes demanded to have pomp and circumstance and to be told one final time how “special”: they are–so Leavitt had to reschedule a graduation ceremony for them a month later to appease them.
Then came the UWO Foundation scandal–as the Chancellor learned that not only had his predecessor made illegal guarantees on loans taken out by an independent agency–but that he had also been making secret payments that were covered up by both the school and the Foundation. I’m still looking forward to the details of what that discussion with former Foundation President Art Rathjen when all of this came to light sounded like.
Then UW System President Ray Cross decides that all of the two-year schools are going to “merge” with the four-year schools to cut costs. So now Leavitt has to oversee two satellite campuses–nearly doubling his workload–with a plan that really hasn’t been finalized yet.
Then the UWO Foundation–despite having the assets to pay off their debts–decides that it is going to go into bankruptcy–so the banks owed that 11-million dollars or so decide they are going to sue the school to make good on the illegal guarantees made by Leavitt’s aforementioned predecessors. The UW System initially says it will make good on the debts–but then Republican Legislators come to the aide of taxpayers who had absolutely nothing to do with this financial mess and put the kibosh on that–so that those responsible for the debt are the ones forced to pay it back.
And then revisionist historians in Madison find out that the man for whom UWO’s student theater is named may have been tied to the Ku Klux Klan. I’m sure that 40+years ago when the decision name the theater was made it seemed like a safe one–as Fredric March was a Hollywood star from Wisconsin that was also a huge supporter of the Democratic Party. Who would have ever thought he would be a militant racist? So now the Chancellor has to decide how to get rid of a monument to a bigot in the middle of campus.
I think after Saturday’s commencement ceremony is over at the Kolf Sports Center that someone put an arm around Chancellor Leavitt’s shoulders and tell him “Andy, find yourself a nice quiet beach somewhere this summer, plant yourself in a comfy chair with a coolerful of beer and watch the sunset every night. Don’t even think about this place. Take as long as you want to come back. You’ve earned this.”
