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Quinn and Poshard in high stakes battle
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller * I’ve mostly ignored the bizarre University of Illinois e-mail “scandal” because, well, I was once involved in university politics and I came to realize it was something to stay away from. I used to be student president at what was then known as Sangamon State University. During my one term, the university president was accused of sexually harrassing a student I’d helped elect to the Board of Regents. Things got mighty ugly after that, as you might imagine. The situation was used to avenge all sorts of festering grievances by faculty and staff. By comparison, this e-mail thing at the U of I, which eventually led to the resignation of University of Illinois President Michael Hogan, seemed sorta tame and lame. But, whatever. I had too much stuff to cover to deal with that anyway. * This, however, looks a lot more up my alley. We’ve got a real bare-knuckles, high-stakes fight happening in southern Illinois between a university president and a governor. SIU President Glenn Poshard has been catching grief from two SIU board members who are closely allied with Gov. Pat Quinn, so he fired back yesterday…
* Poshard is no pushover. And last week he apparently engineered the ouster of Herrin as board chairman and replaced him with an ally, famed trial lawyer John Simmons. But a very intense, behind the scenes battle ensued when Gov. Pat Quinn’s people fought back…
* Lowery went public yesterday with a call for Poshard to resign…
Glenn Poshard is southern Illinois to a whole lot of people. He’ll be fired at Quinn’s peril.
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- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 11:59 am:
Henry Kissinger has a great line about higher ed politics:
“Why are the fights in academia so vicious,” he asked. “Because the stakes are so small.”
- OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:00 pm:
If you strike me down Pat I will become more powerful south of Kankakee than you can possibility imagine…
- Vote Quimby! - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:07 pm:
Is any of this due to the jealousy of the “flagship” Carbondale campus being outperformed by that “upstart” Edwardsville campus? The enrollment declines at SIUC are dramatic…
- downstate commissioner - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:12 pm:
Poshard is well-thought of downstate by a lot of people. This Republican voted for him, and would do it again. Quinn will only lose more friends downstate if Poshard is forced out.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:19 pm:
If Poshard is no longer university President, he can run for governor.
Talk about not thinking things through.
- Freeman - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:21 pm:
Judge Lowery is very well-respected as well.
Poshard and Lowery could have made a powerful team if they had found a way to work together for the students.
Quinn’s meddling, however, just took this to another level. No going back now.
Kudos to Wiley as well for stepping up and sharing her experience.
- SIUE man - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:31 pm:
Poshard lost a lot of credibility in my book when he got caught plagiarizing. Academic dishonesty carries a lot of weight with me, pushover or not
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:33 pm:
== Poshard is well-thought of downstate by a lot of people. ==
UPSHOT: Poshard won 95 out of 102 counties in the Democratic primary in 1998, not just “downstate.”
BACKSHOT: Kearns, Poshard’s “running mate” for Lt. Governor, beat Quinn by less than 1500 votes.
BUCKSHOT: If we had known then what we know now about George Ryan, Poshard would have easily been elected governor. Imagine:
A proven fiscal conservative in the governor’s mansion, who is also the only Congressman I can name who actually had the integrity to adhere to his own term limits pledge.
Education funding reform and property tax relief enacted a decade ago.
No Rod Blagojevich election in 2002, no Quinn ascension in 2009.
- Amanda Vinicky - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:37 pm:
Illinois Public Radio has raw audio of Poshard’s remarks at the WUIS website, http://wuisnews.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/gov-quinn-siu-president-poshard-spat-involves-big-democratic-donor/
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:44 pm:
@SIUE man -
Not sure if or how long you’ve been on Quinn’s payroll, but your accusation of “plagiarizing” is patently false.
As one news report notes:
Southern Illinois President Cleared of Plagiarism
‘The seven-person committee of senior faculty, whose report on Poshard was unveiled Thursday, recommended that the university take no action against the president…Given the modern-day definition of plagiarism at Southern Illinois’s Graduate School as “representing the work of another as one’s own work,” the report says the allegations against Poshard would be “sufficiently supported,” were it not for the historical context of the case.
But that context is vital, the report notes. At the time when Poshard was a graduate student at Southern Illinois, the graduate school’s student handbook lacked a definition of plagiarism. The panel found that Poshard had used an “informal style” of citing sources that was commonly embraced by other graduate students. Faculty members advising him on the dissertation approved the style then, and no one asked him to clarify anything at the time of submission, the report finds.’
And this further note from the report speaks clearly of Poshard’s character:
“Even though the Review Committee says these mistakes were unintentional and inadvertent, they are my mistakes. And I take full responsibility for them…They are not the fault of my committee, my department, my college or my university….whether one wants to argue whether what I did constitutes plagiarism depends on how you feel about me.” - Glenn Poshard
It ain’t often you see any public figure, let alone one with a career in politics, pass up an opportunity to shift the blame to someone else, especially when its handed to them on a silver platter.
Stand. Up. Guy.
- It's Just Me - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 12:52 pm:
Classic Quinn. Quinn knows best obviously.
- Excessively Rabid - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:02 pm:
==If Poshard is no longer university President, he can run for governor.==
I thought that was the only reason he was university president in the first place.
- Niles Township - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:09 pm:
Poshard for Gov?
- steve schnorf - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:14 pm:
I bet there is far more to this than any of us know right now, and it will be interesting when we find out. Rich? Sources?
- fuzzy memory - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:25 pm:
Didn’t Poshard try to hire somebody at an incredibly high salary back in the fall/winter of 2009, even as he was complaining about cuts in state funding? (I can’t remember the details — can anybody help?)
- Highland, IL - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:25 pm:
That’s it I’m digging out my Poshard for Governor T-shirt. I pretty much quit the Democratic Party after that election…
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:27 pm:
This is reminiscent of the crap Blagojevich always tried to pull. Very amateurish and disgusting. I’ve always been offended by Governor’s trying to stick their noses in places where it doesn’t belong. Universities are one of those places. Haven’t we had enough of inept and incompetent Governor’s for a while? The last two we had are now in jail and this one, while I have never questioned his good intentions, seems to lack all capabilities to provide leadership.
- Bitterman - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:27 pm:
This action taken clearly after a long consultation with his Lt. Gov. Simon…..
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:28 pm:
SS:
Even if there is another side is is simply wrong for a Governor’s staff to make such phone calls. Period.
- steve schnorf - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:38 pm:
D, why? Ever? He appointed them, didn’t he? I’m not defending at this point, just saying let’s wait until we know what went down and why before we decide who was right or wrong, if anyone.
- chad - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:44 pm:
I agree with Rich entirely. You just cannot find a more bitter, nasty group of people than university folks arguing about salaries, parking, office locations, and “work” loads. Poshard brings incredible Southern Illinois class to that school, and is popular with the home crowd. He has done a great job barely holding the fiscal challenge together, given the lateness of the state support checks. We don’t need is another hiring “success” like Hogan by Quinn’s trustee appointees.
- Kerfuffle - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:44 pm:
Demoralized is correct. This is offensive and Quinn should be put on the spot regarding this issue.
- soccermom - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:45 pm:
D and Schnorf - Given the amount of money that Illinois’ public universities receive from the state, it seems appropriate for the Governor to have some oversight. And it certainly doesn’t make much sense to say the Governor has the right to appoint but should not concern him/herself thereafter…
- John A Logan - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:46 pm:
Glen Poshard is not nearly as well thought of in Southern Illinois as many might imagine. Since his hire at SIUC, enrollment has dropped for 6 consecutive years. Tuition and Fees have increased during that same time frame. Poshard only survived the plagerism scandal because the panel appointed to investigate the charges all have their paychecks signed by Glen Poshard.
Not to mention the revolving door at the Chancellors position over the last 8 years, the $750,000 per year recently fired basketball coach, and his grand daughter awarded a scholarship then suddenly not awarded the scholarship. Mr. Poshard is a decent man but his tenure as President of SIUC has been lack luster at best.
- LincolnLounger - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:47 pm:
All the problems facing this state, and this is what Quinn has chosen to focus? Talk about Nero fiddling while Rome burns . . . .
- Kerfuffle - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:48 pm:
Soccermon - but asking board members to stay home and implying resignations or terminations might result crosses the line and is just plain wrong!
- CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:53 pm:
Let’s see a fringey GOPer retired judge is bashing Glenn and PQ is siding with the GOPer
sounds like PQ headed for another defeat…He should focus on finding a new job for Derrick Smith
- south of mason dixon - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:54 pm:
As a reminder, Lowery was a repub candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2010 primary. He had to call in MANY favors from both sides of the aisle to get his appointment to the Board. Lowery and Herrin, have lived in the lil pond of southern Illinois politics for many years and rarely agree on ANYTHING!!! Politics certainly makes strange bed fellows!
- Dirty Red - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:56 pm:
= Poshard lost a lot of credibility in my book when he got caught plagiarizing. =
That plagiarism story meant more in northern Illinois than it did anywhere else. The accusation was based on loose ground and presented by a group of professors that tried to use this “information” to blackmail Poshard into hiring back an Edwardsville professor that was booted for lifting material. Poshard threw them out of his office, and so the group sold their story elsewhere.
Consider the chairman and entire BOT before Herrin. The Roger Teddrick board hardly ever went against Poshard’s agenda. Quinn’s appointments to the board after the turnover made it impossible for Poshard to regain a lot of that power, which is a good thing. (I don’t think a president should be all powerful.) The whole thing strikes me as Quinn’s never ending quest for control so he can do things his way.
In my mind, every university needs a BOT to watch over its administration. But that can’t happen in a fair manner when the Governor appoints people more interested in making the administration look bad to satisfy their own ultra-conservative, politically ambitious agenda.
- soccermom - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:57 pm:
There is no excuse for this kind of stuff — or maybe it’s just “the Carbondale Way…”
http://archives.dailyegyptian.com/siu5/?currentPage=211
- Bob - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 1:58 pm:
Poshard has overstayed his welcome at SIU. SIU is going down fast, with no leadership. Poshard was appointed as president at SIU to keep him out of the Governors race. So Poshard is a political appointee making close to a half million a year. Why would he step down
- SIUPROF - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:08 pm:
Herrin and Lowery have never understood the role of board members for a large multi-campus state university. They have wanted to be part of day to day operations and have attempted to go around the President and Chancellor. They wanted to settle the union issue themselves, they wanted to interview candidates for basketball coach on their own, wanted to be told before the old coach was fired, wanted to approve the new logo (even though they approved the contract with the consulting firm) and just generally made asses of themselves.
There are very few faculty on campus here who would side with Herrin over Poshard, who is generally well liked. The idea that the Governor’s office was calling the trustees before the meeting and threatening them is very distasteful. If Quinn is actually backing an egotistical bonehead like Herrin, something is wrong.
- Old Milwaukee - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:10 pm:
Demoralized - maybe this behavior, reminiscent of Blagojevich behavior, is happening because Quinn is still surrounded by some Blagojevich people.
- mark walker - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:13 pm:
Typical for Poshard to call the news conference and amplify the political circus, rather than dealing directly with those involved. He’s more politician than leader.
- Fed up - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:15 pm:
Hmm reminds me of when Quinn involved himself in the U of I problems forcing trustees to resign and then a few African American trustees refused to resign and Quinn stated he would remove them if they did not resign. Then guess what Booby Rush publicly stated Quinn cannot remove the African American trustees and Quinn meekly backed down. Quinn meddles and then doesn’t fix anything. His leadership is lacking and it becomes more apparent every time he involves himself in any situation.
- zatoichi - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:16 pm:
If Quinn has 10 top items that he has to address or spend some political effort, where does this topic fall? About 22? An important local topic but seems like a delegated task with some updates at the next staff meetings.
- CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:22 pm:
It sounds like PQ is now trying to hang some of this on the LT Gov…she is a lot smarter than that
- jake - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:28 pm:
I don’t know the merits of the detailed issues at SIU, but the manner in which the Governor and his staff tried to interfere with the trustees, speaks very badly for the Governor. That being said, it is not good for SIU in any way for Poshard to call Quinn out publicly. They both need to grow up, unless—I wonder if this is an opening salvo in Poshard for Governor in 1214? Quinn is vulnerable to be taken out in a primary if he does not step down, and the demographics of a Poshard campaign would be interesting.
- Old Timer - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:40 pm:
===I don’t know the merits of the detailed issues at SIU, but the manner in which the Governor and his staff tried to interfere with the trustees, speaks very badly for the Governor.===
…and it may be time for the governor to back away from Herrin and Lowery…for political cover if nothing else. And don’t discount involvement by the Lt. Gov. The Simon and Poshard factions of the Democratic Party in southern Illinois don’t get along…and just about everyone knows that.
- Huh? - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:54 pm:
“…You just cannot find a more bitter, nasty group of people than university folks …”
Obviously you have never had the opportunity to work for a religious institution. Some of the nastiest, most evil people I have ever met were the “pillars” of the church.
- just sayin' - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 2:55 pm:
Is that the same Don Lowery who ran an awful campaign for U.S. Senate in the 2010 GOP primary? He seemed kinda “off.”
- otownie - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:04 pm:
Listened to Dr. Poshard’s response:
http://youtu.be/JPnr1_jEjag
Waiting for Dr. Herrin and Mr. Lowery to do the same.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:08 pm:
@Amanda Vinicky -
Great reporting and helpful back story.
Although I wouldn’t make too much of the Quinn contributions. Herrin has supported alot of Democrats, including Hynes, Blagojevich and Stroger. The size of his contributions to Quinn probably has much more to do with Sheila Simon than Quinn.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:09 pm:
SS:
Yes. I believe they should never interfere in these things. It’s not the Governor’s job to run a university. He appoints the Board and that is it. If he doesn’t like it then he can attend the meetings (he is a member of each Board isn’t he?) and have his say, or appoint new members when their terms are up. My main problem with this is this behind the scenes stuff going on. To me it’s unseemly to have a Governor’s staff calling around trying to interfere in Board and university operations. Maybe we should go back to electing Board members and get the Governor out of it.
- Jed Smokowski - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:14 pm:
Bottom line and regardless the SIU adminstrator, enrollment has dropped and continues to drop at SIUC? Probably it is a crisis … and then this kind of “stuff” breaks to the surface. So, who are the losers in this kind of tussle? The university!
- Tired of All This - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:32 pm:
What’s the criminal liability for threatening public officials (trustees) by withholding funds for a particular vote. If you try to bribe a lawmaker to vote a certain way it would get the FBI involved with an investigation. I think I just read something about that somewhere. Did Quinn just show his true colors? Are we talking impeachable offenses? Are we looking at 3 for 3 when it comes to governors?
Trustees are appointed by the governor but they are independent once approved by the Senate.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:34 pm:
@Jed -
Given the state of Southern Illinois’ economy, its hardly surprising that total enrollment is down.
In a strong economy, lots of folks already in the job market enroll in college to earn advanced degrees so they can increase their earnings. Those numbers are down.
On the other hand, freshman enrollment at SIUC is up 5% this year, so it ain’t all as bad as it looks.
On another note, Simmons should boost the university’s fundraising considerably.
- Sportsman - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:56 pm:
If you watched Poshard’s tirade yesterday and you understood just how sick and tired most residents in Southern Illinois are of him,you’d realize why the university has been in a constant state of decline since he took over. He didn’t look like a stable person.
One more thing, he doesn’t even come close to holding sway over Southern Illinois voters like he did a few years ago. His welcome is worn out.
- Keyser Soze - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 3:59 pm:
Academic bureaucrats live in sort of a parallel universe in which the trivial become paramount. Why would Pat Quinn wish to enter that arena?
- Way Way Down Here - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:02 pm:
Quinn’s people have made a serious mistake here. Herrin and Lowery are old school southern Illinois pols who thought this was some kind of local school board. They had better back away from this quickly and quietly. This isn’t over, but if PQ was smart it would be.
- Doc Saluki - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:12 pm:
It took some special pleading by select SIUC faculty to clear Poshard on the plagiarism charge (at the very least the utter sloppiness of Poshard’s dissertation–which included large chunks of direct quotations without attribution–showed him unworthy of the degree, even if we don’t conclude that he intentionally cheated). Poshard then helped provoke a faculty strike, with the assistance of his fourth chancellor in six years. While he’s got remaining support in Southern Illinois, comments on the local newspaper’s site are running at least 2:1 against him (though comments on a web site aren’t the best guide to public opinion!). Those commenting here have mainly heard Poshard’s side of the story, in which the governor’s staff looks heavy-handed. Poshard’s decision to escalate this fight by holding his angry news conference (video is posted on the Southern Illinoisan) might save his job, but at considerable cost to the institution, which can hardly afford another hit. This sort of crap contributes to the low esteem for higher ed across the state, making it all the more likely that higher ed employees will lose pension and other benefits (including the tuition break–which the leg is taking away mainly as payback for losing their own pet scholarship program), and that higher ed’s budget, which has been declining in real terms for decades, will take still another hit this year. Poshard managed to defeat the governor’s lobbying behind the scenes, but by going public with his press conference he may have turned that victory into a pyrrhic one.
- Jeff Trigg - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:13 pm:
Why did we stop electing the college trustees in favor of Governors appointing them, again? Maybe they wouldn’t be so beholden to the Governor that appoints them if we went back to elections. Obviously there has been a lot more turmoil since they did away with the elections.
- enrollment issue - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:22 pm:
Its remarkable SIUC has kept as many students as it has–the region has lost three congressional districts over the last three decades due to the loss of population. In addition, the incredible enrollment gains at SIUE (which before the creation of SIUE was a strong recruting area for SIUC) have kept the SIU system strong. Poshard’s has led the complete reconstruction of both campuses in his tenure and these capital investments will keep students coming to these beautiful campuses for years to come.
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:39 pm:
These trustees, both in Carbondale as well as in Champaign-Urbana, would do well to remember that despite who appointed them, they have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the University, not to act in the best interests of the Governor, where those interests conflict. They are supposed to, on occasion, exercise some degree of independent thought.
- Southern Illinois Voter - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 4:48 pm:
I agree with John A. Logan…not everyone thinks Poshard is great. Enrollment keeps dropping, strike last year, can’t keep chancellors… The buck needs to stop somewhere, but it keep missing the President’s office.
- Publius - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 6:40 pm:
What’s next the governor micromanaging the hiring of a new President for the University of Illinois?
- A little north of I-80 - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 8:55 pm:
C’mon people, wake up: Clearly, it’s Poshard picking a fight, not the other way around. The trustees serve at the leisure of the Guv, do they not? So why is Poshard bringing this quite inconsequencial matter out the open? Could it be this failed SIU “leader” is gearing up for another gubernatorial run? Will he have the same high-powered support he did last time? If so, then it looks like another knock down, drag out fight in the 2014 primary, with almost assuredly the same result.
- In the Sticks - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 9:04 pm:
A university president needs valid academic credentials, as well as management and personnel skills along with significant political abilities. President Poshard, unfortunately, is primarily a politician.
- steve schnorf - Wednesday, Mar 28, 12 @ 9:30 pm:
Jeff, I forget, too. When DID we elect them, other than U of I?
- No2Much - Thursday, Mar 29, 12 @ 1:18 am:
Does anyone remember why he dropped out of his last bid for Gov?
- East Sider - Thursday, Mar 29, 12 @ 3:33 pm:
Don Lowery is more respected in the deep south than Glen Poshard. Also, Poshard’s performance has been less than glamorous as president. The only thing keeping him afloat at this point is the success of SIUE, which is largely due to the leadership of the chancellor there (who is retiring). SIUC is a train wreck.
I am surprised that Quinn is doing battle with John Simmons, however. Simmons is by far the most powerful asbestos lawyer in southern Illinois, and one of the most powerful in the country. This will be fun to watch.
- Carbondale - Thursday, Mar 29, 12 @ 6:17 pm:
Sheila Simon may have more to do with the Poshard business than meets the eye. (1) Poshard pushed to get former State Rep Arthur Turner appointed as director of the Simon Institute at SIUC even though Sheila and the Board of the Public policy Institute were favoring famed Iowa political journalist David Yepsen. After a tense standoff, Yepsen was appointed. (2) Both Poshard and Simon were considered as a running mate for Quinn, according to local news media. Poshard was seen as too tainted by Blago. (3) Simmons who has gained Chairman of the Board of SIU, was a Blago favorite who managed to get millions for a minor league baseball team in Marion, Illinois. Subsequently Poshard’s son became the spokesman for the team. Then Dennis recieved a contract from the university for $100,000 for marketing services. http://tinyurl.com/8xnoy5d
Meanwhile Sheila was holding meetings across the state about ethics in politics. I don’t expect you’ll hear Sheila standing up for Glenn. And thats not because she’s loyal to PQ.