That’s the question. Certainly the entire Westfield State University board of trustees should go. But there must have been others at the university who hired as president a man whose character and actions were already fully known.
… [Evan] Dobelle [got] into similar trouble for his lavish spending at previous jobs, including at the University of Hawaii and the New England Board of Higher Education. In Hawaii, the board of regents unanimously voted to terminate his seven-year contract in 2004 after just three years because of his wasteful spending and ever-shifting explanations…
“There has been a lack of accountability, lack of fund-raising progress, lack of a sense of stewardship, ignoring the most basic policies,” then-regents chairwoman Patricia Lee said, according to the minutes of the Hawaii board’s June 15, 2004, meeting. “But, most importantly, his dishonesty and lying are most troubling.”
How stupid does your institution have to be to hire a person with this record?
He … commissioned a portrait of himself, contacting a local artist in 2013, and sent the $777.75 bill to [Westfield State’s] foundation after the fact. The portrait remained in a closet to be unveiled at an event for the 175th anniversary of the university in 2013. After Dobelle resigned, school staffers didn’t want the painting and shipped it to Dobelle.
So okay. Here are a couple of names for you. Diamandopoulos. Slade. So now we have the names of three university presidents who came in with crushing egos and big talk and proceeded to strip everything on campus except the interior wiring. Can even schools like Hawaii and Westfield State learn from this?
August 1st, 2014 at 12:46PM
Just business as usual in the corrupt patronage state.
August 1st, 2014 at 9:40PM
They “proceeded to strip everything on campus except the interior wiring”?
With copper at $3.22 a pound?
Sloppy work if you ask me.
August 2nd, 2014 at 12:41AM
Dr_Doctorstein: LOL.
August 2nd, 2014 at 9:01AM
Best detail: Dobelle’s personal assistant was called Waleska Lugo-DeJesus. Did Pynchon write this?
August 2nd, 2014 at 12:16PM
Alan: I had the same sort of thought.
August 2nd, 2014 at 4:20PM
But … everybody hires Dobelle. Counting NEBHE, this is his sixth presidency. So a whole lot of trustees, plus the voters of Pittsfield and the President of the United States.