Scandal. Favoritism. Corruption. Am I talking about Washington or our noble University. Sadly, I’m talking about N.C. State. Oh, how the proud have fallen.
Right now, there have been two scapegoats: Provost Larry Nielsen and McQueen Campbell, chair of the Board of Trustees, both of whom resigned last week. And the way things are shaping up, these are only the first two heads to roll.
As students, we should be angry, upset, and pissed off–the entire controversy broke when Mary Easley received an 88 percent increase in salary just as news about the economy was slowly starting to sour, and it hasn’t stopped since.
If there is any justice, we should see Mrs. Easley (and possibly Chancellor Oblinger) resign before the end of the month. Too long have we been kept in the dark to accept Nielsen and Campbell’s resignations as a consolation prize for the mob’s fury.
When the furor over Mary Easley’s rehiring with a tremendous pay increase broke last summer, I remember how difficult it was to get anything out of any administrator. We had our own version of the government being in bed with the contractors, with our administration playing the role of Bush and Company and the Easleys acting as the Cheneys, making our fine University the Haliburton of this travesty.
And in our lovely political drama from hell, the outrage is just as deserved, with Mrs. Easley receiving almost twice as much money as she did before her new contract was finalized. Yet that was just another drop in the bucket, as news of Mrs. Easley’s $109,000 overseas cultural exchange trips and the governor and first lady’s $170,000 trip to Italy also came out at about the same time.
So of course, the chancellor, provost and other administrators were forthcoming in explaining everything about Mrs. Easley’s hiring…right?
Judging by my inability to get through the defense network of secretaries and the dense, completely unhelpful answers I found, I’d say the administration wasn’t going about practicing what they preach.
Chancellor Oblinger even had the gall to say this in his May 13 letter to the News and Observer: “We have been and will continue to be forthcoming about our actions.”
Puh-LEEZE. This is bull. This is malarkey. Oblinger and company put up a stonewall of administrative assistants and voicemail systems that would make Dick Cheney proud. And now they claim to have been forthcoming about everthing, even as they manage to “forget” conversations regarding Mrs. Easley’s hiring.
I don’t care what your politics are — every student and every tax-paying resident of North Carolina should demand an accounting from the Easleys. And the first step is an easy one: demand her resignation from her position here at the University.
Should she refuse to resign, then the chancellor and Board of Trustees should have the decency to do what is right and oust her from her position.
And if that doesn’t happen, every student, alumni, donor and taxpayer that supports our University would be wise and justified in demanding the chancellor’s resignation.
Send Paul your thoughts on the Mary Easley situation to [email protected].
