Bryce Jordan
The secret selection
On October 14, the press was
invited to Ur.;*orp :4 v P- . vi
a special trustees meet;:; 0
where a new P.S.U. president
would be voted in.
It was a sham. The decision
was made long before. At least
one radio newscast reported
Bryce Jordan’s appointment
while we were en route to
University Park—before the
trustees meeting started.
The actual meeting turned
out to be a puff performance
unanimously electing Jordan
with scarcely a chance for dis
sent.
After the meeting, the press
conference carried on the
facade. Jordan’s “spontaneous’
comments were as canned as
the press release packages
handed out.
The front stage theatrics and
back stage decision making
seems to be typical of the entire
selection process of our new
president.
Since then much has been
said and written about the lack
of student and faculty input and
opportunity to meet the final
candidates for the position.
Barry Lee Myers, associate
professor of business ad
ministration at Main Campus
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said: “There is overwhelming
disbelief legm J'.rtg th-:.- lengths
to which fiat in decision making
has gone this past year...l think
the faculty feels it is important
that a broad cross-section of the
University community—faculty,
students, administrators—get
an opportunity to meet with and
hear the views of the final
group of candidates.”
It was rightly felt that many
faculty members and students
know more about the Universi
ty’s functioning than do some
trustees, many of whom are in
dependent business people.
We agree with the committee
members who said confiden-
Phiitttrien
tiality was necessary for early
presidential candidates. But
after the 301 candidates were
reduced to eight, the interviews
should have included a wider
student and faculty base.
Walter J. Conti, board presi
dent, promised the faculty and
student members of the
Presidential Search and Screen
Committee an opportunity to in
terview the final candidate
before the recommendation was
made to the board. However,
that interview consisted of only
a few words, moments before
the election. Why? Why the
need for such great secrecy?
Perhaps some clue lies within
the bureaucratic structure
itself. Perhaps even Oswald,
Jordan’s former boss at the
University of Kentucky, hand
picked his successor after all.
We don’t know, but we do know
that the selection process itself
created suspicions that didn’t
need to exist.
Moreover, the Presidential
Search and Screen Committee
was picked by the Presidential
Selection Committee, but who
selected the selection commit
tee members? Quentin Wood,
then president of the Board of
Trustees, did and he was nam
ed chairman of the committee
and announced the names of
trustees who would serve on the
Trustee Presidential Selection
Committee.
We don’t claim to have any
answers to these questions, but
we do feel that more exchange
Times
Vol. 17, No. 2
Published by the students of The Capitol Campus of The Pennsylvania State
University, Middletown, PA, 17057. PHONE: (717) 944-4970.
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The Capitol Times welcomes letters from readers. Letters Intended for publication must Indicate the writer's
college affiliation, If any. All letters MUST be signed by the writer. Unsigned letters cannot be printed. A
writer's name may be withheld upon request. Letters should be typewritten and double spaced; and, any
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STAFF MEMBERS
Monica Auld Sheryl Machita
Annette Bux-Cremo Mike Markle
Judith Faruquee William Negley
Joe Guberman Marcia Rogers
Kim Guzzi Betsy Sheehan
Philip Intrieri Bud Smith
Donna Kirker Ronald Smith
Don Strausburger
within the University groups
would have precluded the
shadowy areas.
The University Faculty
Senate, the Undergraduate Stu
dent Government and the Coun
cil of Academic Deans probably
should have had access to
discuss educational and ad
ministrative philosophies with
the final candidates for presi
dent.
We agree with the editors of
the Weekly Collegian who feel
that “As Bryce Jordan
familiarizes himself with die
University over the next nine
months, he should be aware
that many students and faculty
members are dissatisfied with
the selection process. He would
do well to transcend the selec
tion process and present the
University with an open-minded
chief executive.”
November 8,1982
Pat Wenger
George P. Yanoshik, Jr.
Marsha L. Larsen
Jerry Trently, Jr.
Joe Hart
Mark Clauser
Robert Rejmaniak
Mary Diehl
Barbara Myers
Charles R. Cobourn, 111