Due to the 250 word limit, I had to take out a few other comments about fiduciary responsibilities and a further explanation of my service to Penn State. Given that it is subject to editing, we'll see what they do. I had a letter to the Columbus Dispatch butchered--grammatically-- a few weeks ago (and I was a former technical editor). I do not expect them to publish--unless there's a staffer with an eye to "fairness" (which went out the window in journalism some years ago--and I am not speaking about politics but general reporting).
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Recently, the Penn State Board of Trustees amended their procedure for electing alumnus representatives, supposedly to make it easier for alumni to run. But these nominations will now go through a nominations committee to see if the candidates are “qualified”. Trustee Gursahaney stated: “We need the right kind of people on the Board”. The right kind of people?? Does that mean that the people we have chosen as alumni are not “the right kind of people”? It means that the Board does not trust the alumni to decide who should be eligible to represent them. Let that sink in. The Board does not trust you, the alumni, to make decisions that are in the best interests of this great university. Shame! Shame!
This may well be due to the recent disagreements between some alumni representatives and the Executive Board. Disagreements and disputes are not always a bad thing. As NCIS’s Gibbs notes in his Rule 51: “Sometimes -- you’re wrong”. Disagreements often help a board make better decisions.
Though I was President of a award-winning alumni chapter, among many other alumni volunteer positions, I suspect I would not be considered the “right kind of person”, as I have voiced my displeasure in the past with some Board decisions.
I plead with the Alumni Association and all alumni to stand up against this egregious usurpation of power, to retain our right to choose our own members of the Board of Trustees, as we have done for the past 150 years.
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Recently, the Penn State Board of Trustees amended their procedure for electing alumnus representatives, supposedly to make it easier for alumni to run. But these nominations will now go through a nominations committee to see if the candidates are “qualified”. Trustee Gursahaney stated: “We need the right kind of people on the Board”. The right kind of people?? Does that mean that the people we have chosen as alumni are not “the right kind of people”? It means that the Board does not trust the alumni to decide who should be eligible to represent them. Let that sink in. The Board does not trust you, the alumni, to make decisions that are in the best interests of this great university. Shame! Shame!
This may well be due to the recent disagreements between some alumni representatives and the Executive Board. Disagreements and disputes are not always a bad thing. As NCIS’s Gibbs notes in his Rule 51: “Sometimes -- you’re wrong”. Disagreements often help a board make better decisions.
Though I was President of a award-winning alumni chapter, among many other alumni volunteer positions, I suspect I would not be considered the “right kind of person”, as I have voiced my displeasure in the past with some Board decisions.
I plead with the Alumni Association and all alumni to stand up against this egregious usurpation of power, to retain our right to choose our own members of the Board of Trustees, as we have done for the past 150 years.
