2008 Woodie Awards
E-mail exchange exposed
Melissa Chi and Josh Martin
Issue date: 7/7/08 Section: News
A group of UT students uncovered a controversial e-mail exchange between UT President Lloyd Jacobs and Main Campus Provost Rosemary Haggett through a public records request and released the e-mails in a press release on June 30.
The e-mail dialogue came after the College of Arts and Sciences Council's 42-7 no-confidence vote against Yueh-Ting Lee, the college's dean, in April.
Jacobs remarked in the e-mails that he would consider throwing Lee "under the bus" if it didn't mean rewarding "the bad behavior" of the council.
Colleen Eldridge, a junior majoring in linguistics, is one of the students responsible for the exposed e-mails.
"We went to the Town Hall meeting [on May 6], and it seemed like what [the president] was saying did not match up with [his] actions. We were trying to figure out how to get more information," she said.
Eldridge and Evan Morrison, a junior majoring in history, filed a public records request and published the e-mail dialogue.
The two said they have two CDs worth of information and will release more during a rally at the next Town Hall meeting on July 17.
Haggett said she finds nothing unusual about her e-mail discussion with Jacobs.
"I was a bit surprised because it was a normal course of business - I hadn't really thought about it, and it happened back in April," she said. "A lot had happened between then and now."
In Haggett's e-mail to Jacobs, she wrote that meeting with the Arts and Sciences Council would also be regarded as rewarding bad behavior.
David Davis, former chairman of Arts and Sciences Council, said the situation is worse than he thought.
"The president really wants to punish the faculty. He talks about not rewarding the faculty for the 'bad behavior.'"
"It confirmed our suspicions that the administration - the provost, at least - is not listening to the faculty but rather understands us as the problem to manage," said Renee Heberle, associate professor in political science and public administration.
The e-mail dialogue came after the College of Arts and Sciences Council's 42-7 no-confidence vote against Yueh-Ting Lee, the college's dean, in April.
Jacobs remarked in the e-mails that he would consider throwing Lee "under the bus" if it didn't mean rewarding "the bad behavior" of the council.
Colleen Eldridge, a junior majoring in linguistics, is one of the students responsible for the exposed e-mails.
"We went to the Town Hall meeting [on May 6], and it seemed like what [the president] was saying did not match up with [his] actions. We were trying to figure out how to get more information," she said.
Eldridge and Evan Morrison, a junior majoring in history, filed a public records request and published the e-mail dialogue.
The two said they have two CDs worth of information and will release more during a rally at the next Town Hall meeting on July 17.
Haggett said she finds nothing unusual about her e-mail discussion with Jacobs.
"I was a bit surprised because it was a normal course of business - I hadn't really thought about it, and it happened back in April," she said. "A lot had happened between then and now."
In Haggett's e-mail to Jacobs, she wrote that meeting with the Arts and Sciences Council would also be regarded as rewarding bad behavior.
David Davis, former chairman of Arts and Sciences Council, said the situation is worse than he thought.
"The president really wants to punish the faculty. He talks about not rewarding the faculty for the 'bad behavior.'"
"It confirmed our suspicions that the administration - the provost, at least - is not listening to the faculty but rather understands us as the problem to manage," said Renee Heberle, associate professor in political science and public administration.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Andrea
posted 7/07/08 @ 12:09 PM EST
Can we get a link to a pdf version of the e-mail exposed thus far or something?
Tom
posted 7/07/08 @ 11:43 PM EST
From: "Haggett, Rosemary "
To: "Jacobs, Lloyd"
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:29:04 -0400
Subject: RE: stuff
I've been thinking a lot about this and what would be out best strategy. (Continued…)
Colleen
posted 7/08/08 @ 11:48 AM EST
You can find the text of the press release/e-mails on the A&S Council eForum:
http://ascforum.blogspot.com/2008/06/students-freedom-of-information-act. (Continued…)
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