The University of Iowa will be Harreld-ing in the New Year—that is, if the UI community doesn’t get him removed first.
Recently named the 21st UI President, Bruce Harreld is set to start his duties on November 2. The businessman and Harvard Graduate was selected by the Board of Regents to replace Sally Mason.
However, Harreld has not gotten positive feedback from the UI community, which is most likely because of the series of events leading up to and during his selection.
The timeline of Herrald’s time at UI goes as follows:
July 8, 2015: Harreld speaks at UI Hospitals and Clinics. He meets Robillard, Interim President, and Regent President Rastetter.
July 30, 2015: Harreld visits Ames. McKibben and Andringa, two of the 21 search committee members, meet with Harreld. Regents Dakovich and Mulholland also speak with Harreld during his visit. Both claim that their minds about the next President were not made up until September 3. However, conversations by email revealed that Harreld, after his visit, may not have been wanting to work for the UI. Andringa urged him to consider otherwise. http://daily-iowan.com/2015/09/28/more-harreld-meetings-reveled/
July 31, 2015: Deadline for applications are due.
Sometime in August: Rastetter facilitates a call between Harreld and Branstad.
August 4, 2015: Search committee meets in a close session to look over candidates.
August 11—12, 2015: Airport interviews are conducted with nine semi-finalists, which includes Harreld.
August 24, 2015: Harreld is announced as the fourth finalist for UI Presidency. http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/higher-education/fourth-university-of-iowa-presidential-candidate-bruce-harreld-20150831
September 1, 2015: Harreld is invited to discuss his background and qualifications during an open forum held at the IMU. The room, which consisted of teachers, students and community members, was said to have a hostile atmosphere. Community members later noted that the questions asked of Harreld were aggressive and uncharacteristic of the UI community, but Harreld failed to display knowledge of the public university’s workings. http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2015/09/02/criticism-abounds-ui-presidential-search/71588478/ For the video of the open forum, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5S5ZXWxc98
September 2, 2015: The Board of Regents is warned that if they choose Harreld, the UI Faculty senate will vote “no confidence.”
September 3, 2015: The Board of Regents announces Bruce Harreld as the 21st President of the UI. His salary is set at $590,000. http://now.uiowa.edu/2015/09/president-harreld
September 8, 2015: Faculty senate votes “no confidence.” http://daily-iowan.com/2015/09/09/no-confidence/
September 28, 2015: Faculty moves to get the Board of Regents dismissed. Iowa State and UNI have previously also supported this decision. http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/higher-education/university-of-iowa-faculty-group-calls-for-regents-to-be-dismissed-20150928
The events surrounding Harreld’s hire is rightfully concerning.
The newly appointed President lied on his resume, claiming that it was a mistake on his part to include a company in Colorado that was no longer in function. Furthermore, the Board of Regents met with Harreld before he was announced as a potential candidate—they even went as far as emailing him to consider applying for the Presidential position, which was not made clear until the recent unveiling of email correspondence between Harreld and committee search member Andringa.
What seems to be an underlying message of this controversy is not only the fact that the Regents failed to pick an academic successor for Sally Mason, but that they had a blatant disregard for the concerns expressed among the UI community. What proves to be interesting is the fact that even when it was publicized that the UI community did not support Harreld, the Regents still chose him.
It should come as no surprise then that the UI community spoke against this position because their input was disrespected. Faculty and Student Senates came together to share their concerns with each other. Both ended up issuing a “no confidence” vote.
According to an article published by the Gazette, Iowa faculty members have also called on Governor Terry Branstad to dismiss the entire Board of Regents for hiring Harreld. The faculty said they seek new members that will uphold honesty, ethical behavior, be open with communication, will remain accountable and more. This happened recently after a motion of censure against Harreld.
So where is Iowa headed?
Tensions are high in the UI community, and with many calls to action in place, there is sure to be some kind of change on the campus. The community is too vast and strong to be silenced, and it seems clear that they will not yield.
However, one thing has yet to be addressed—where is Harreld in all of this? Will we ever hear a comment from him?
Most likely not.