UPDATE: Wolfe criticizes UM System curators, Loftin in confidential email to university supporters
• Response from state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.
• Comments from Ayanna Poole, a Concerned Student 1950 organizer.
• Comment from Daniel Hartman, campaign manager for attorney general candidate Josh Hawley.
• Details of Tim Wolfe's contract as UM System president and comparisons with the contracts for former MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and former Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel.
• Statement from state Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, responding to Wolfe's comments on the behavior of state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.
• Statement from Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton about protesters coming to Columbia from Ferguson, Missouri.
• Statement from DeRay McKesson, a civil rights activist and a member of the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Statement about UM System employees being allowed to work at home on Nov. 9 if they felt their work would be distracted at University Hall.
University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe speaks on the phone in a room in University Hall near midnight Nov. 8. In a letter Wolfe wrote to supporters, he described "What I haven't shared with you or the general public is the series of events and circumstances and specific unconscionable behaviors that led to my resignation." He resigned Nov. 9.
Bea Costa-Lima/Missourian fileCOLUMBIA — In a letter to prominent supporters, former University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe lashed out at curators who tried to "dig up dirt," at a chancellor who made a mess of MU and then manipulated blame on Wolfe, and at an athletics director and football coach who "threw gasoline on a small fire."
Wolfe resigned in November without conditions. In the letter, he makes clear he wants money as part of the separation.
He wrote that he'd made proposals to the UM System Board of Curators and attempted to hash out differences through mediation, to no avail.
"All negotiations with the board have stopped and I'm left with the options of either accepting a small fraction of the total compensation that I could have made if I had stayed through the end of my contract, or to litigate which would involve going public with the reasons as to why I was the target of Concerned Student 1950," Wolfe wrote.
Concerned Student 1950 is a student activist group formed in the fall to raise awareness of racial tensions on campus and protest a perceived lack of response from the administration to racially charged incidents and discrimination.
Wolfe's contract for the first three years of his presidency called for $450,000 in annual compensation and up to $100,000 in performance-based incentives each year. In August 2014, the Board of Curators extended Wolfe's contract through June 2018, and Wolfe's base salary reached $459,000 in the 2014-15 school year. Wolfe would have made $477,544 for the 2015-16 school year.
In his letter, Wolfe wrote that the Board of Curators has offered to pay him only what he would have received if he'd been fired without cause.
In that circumstance, Wolfe could receive all deferred compensation accumulated in previous years and an additional sum not more than half of his annual base salary, according to his original contract.
In the letter, he contrasted his situation with those of former MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel.
Loftin's resignation agreement with the Board of Curators granted him 75 percent of his former salary in a new role coordinating university research as a tenured physics professor and allowed him to keep the $135,000 bonus he received when he was hired.
The initial terms of the deal that the curators approved for Pinkel's new position in the athletics department would pay Pinkel $350,000 in 2016 and 2017 and $250,000 in 2018.
Related
Tim Wolfe's contract with the University of Missouri System.
Wolfe's letter was emailed Jan. 19 to all the members of the "Missouri 100," a group of prominent UM System supporters, and other supporters. On Jan. 21, it was forwarded to administration officials in the four campus system. Interim Chancellor Hank Foley distributed it to his staff; it has been circulated among legislators in the General Assembly. The Missourian received the letter Wednesday.
Wolfe blamed Loftin for the majority of unrest at MU last year and accused him of working with state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, to shape Loftin's testimony to the Sanctity of Life Committee concerning the university's relationship with Planned Parenthood.
"That is inaccurate," Loftin said Wednesday morning at his residence on Francis Quadrangle. Loftin said he provided Schaefer with information and letters when requested and appeared to testify before the committee when requested, but he did not work with Schaefer to cater his testimony.
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin watches from behind as University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe speaks to students on Nov. 3 at the University Hall parking lot. Days later both Wolfe and Loftin announced their resignations. "I made the mistake of hiring Bowen Loftin and I trusted the Board of Curators to support my decisions and to do what is in the best interest of the University of Missouri System," Wolfe wrote in a letter.
Wolfe also alleged that the reason student protesters' criticism focused on Wolfe was Loftin's doing — once the former chancellor felt that his job was in danger in late September, Loftin began shifting the focus of student protest group Concerned Student 1950 to Wolfe.
"That is completely false," said Ayanna Poole, a Concerned Student 1950 organizer. "Loftin didn't in any way influence our motivation behind things. We had already shifted to Wolfe on our own because Wolfe had more power to make that systemic change happen on the university's campus."
Loftin also denied Wolfe's claim. "Our students are highly intelligent, and I have a deep respect for them. To think that I could manipulate them in any way is unbelievable," he said.
The former president's motivation to resign was largely because of safety concerns, Wolfe said. The UM System called upon diversity and inclusion consulting experts after officials learned about a "pending event" on Nov. 9, the day Wolfe resigned.
According to Wolfe, the consulting experts "along with the FBI, Missouri Highway Patrol, Columbia Police Department and MU Campus police were aware of a significant Ferguson protester" and a threat that more protesters were arriving at campus that day.
Wolfe's letter "reinforced his fear of black people or this idea that people that come from Ferguson are angry without reasoning," Poole said.
MU Police Chief Doug Schwandt was not immediately available for comment about security concerns around the time of Wolfe's resignation.
Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton said on Wednesday his department "was made aware via intelligence sources that people who were significantly involved in the Ferguson, Missouri, protests" as well as protesters from outside Boone County might be coming to join the MU protests. He said the information was shared with Columbia Police in case MU Police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol needed support in providing security on campus.
DeRay McKesson, a civil rights activist and a member of the Black Lives Matter movement, said in a text conversation that he tweeted in solidarity with the MU protesters on Nov. 9 but didn't arrive on campus until Nov. 10 — after Wolfe resigned. He said he knew of a few protesters from St. Louis on campus before Nov. 9 and said he knew that other protesters were headed to campus.
John Fougere, a UM System spokesman, said in an email that employees at University Hall and the Old Alumni Center were given "permission to work from home, if they felt that there was potential that their work would be distracted" on the day Wolfe resigned.
Members of Concerned Student 1950 block route of then-UM System President Tim Wolfe and his wife on Oct. 10 in the 2015 MU Homecoming Parade."I resigned out of love for MU and the rest of the system and I felt that it was the right thing to do at the time to prevent further embarrassment and a potential Ferguson-like event on the MU campus," Wolfe wrote in a confidential letter.
Wolfe also criticized Missouri athletics director Mack Rhoades, Pinkel and Loftin for failing to communicate with system officials as football players announced a boycott Nov. 7 until graduate student Jonathan Butler ended his hunger strike.
On Nov. 9, Pinkel tweeted a photo of the team, including white players and coaches, saying "The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players. #ConcernedStudent1950 GP."
Wolfe announced his resignation hours later amid national attention. In his letter, he wrote, "The football team's actions were the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a small fire. Coach Pinkel missed an important opportunity to teach his players a valuable life lesson."
MU activist Jonathan Butler, center, is surrounded in solidarity by a group of black football players. "The football team's actions were the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a small fire," Tim Wolfe wrote in an email to university supporters.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan L. Butler's FacebookWolfe suggested that the university might lose $25 million in tuition and fees in the upcoming academic year, as well as up to $500 million in state funding. This is a much worse consequence than the $1 million penalty that the university would have been required to pay for missing a game against Brigham Young University, Wolfe wrote.
The $25 million figure Wolfe cites is in line with current UM System officials' estimates of lost tuition and fees for next year. MU Chief Operations Officer Gary Ward told Regional Economic Development Inc. board members earlier this month that the university expects enrollment to drop by as many as 900 students next year, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. Interim UM System President Michael Middleton told the Tribune that the university could lose between $20 million to $25 million in tuition and fees as a result.
The letter accused a few members of the Board of Curators, which makes up the governing body of the UM System, of calling on "subordinate staff and faculty members to dig up dirt and use their Curator role to further personal agendas."
University of Missouri System curators Pamela Q. Henrickson, Donald L. Cupps and Maurice B. Graham exit a meeting room during an emergency meeting at University Hall on Sept. 20. In a Jan. 19 letter written to supporters, former UM System President Tim Wolfe warned: "Without change, the odds of the Board's ability to attract decent candidates for the next President are very low."
Wolfe criticized the hiring of current Interim President Michael Middleton, who he said "failed miserable (sic) in his capacity as the long time leader on diversity issues on the MU campus."
Wolfe also accused Schaefer of pressuring him to take away MU Law School associate professor Josh Hawley's right to an unpaid leave of absence while running for attorney general. Schaefer also is running for attorney general.
"I think it's indicative of the culture of corruption in Jefferson City," said Daniel Hartman, Hawley's campaign manager. "It is unethical for any state senator such as Kurt Schaefer to ask the president of the university for a personal political favor, and that's what it was."
State Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said Wednesday that these actions are not representative of the state legislature as a whole.
“I don’t think you can make broad generalizations based on the actions and attitudes of a few,” Rowden said. “I think there certainly has been some tension, some frustration. … A lot of the frustration stems from what members of the General Assembly have heard from their constituents. It’s about moving forward, looking ahead, finding the best way to have a forward-facing dialogue.”
Schaefer, however, denied many of Wolfe's allegations, calling the letter "bizarre."
“It attacks Mike Middleton, me, Bowen Loftin, the Curators — and it’s a disjointed collection of accusations,” he said Wednesday. “The ‘call to action’ is that he wants more money out of the university. It’s more of an extortion letter.”
Schaefer said he did speak to Wolfe about Hawley’s request for a leave of absence.
“They needed to follow their own rules, which they still haven’t done. That was my statement to him,” he said.
Schaefer denied the accusation that he influenced Loftin's testimony before the Sanctity of Life committee.
“I didn’t, just because there was no need to,” Schaefer said. “The only thing I told him right before he walked in is that he should tell the truth.”
UM System Spokesman John Fougere issued a statement Wednesday morning, stating:
"We are aware that former President Tim Wolfe recently has made public to some university supporters a letter containing his thoughts about the events of last autumn and his desire to reach what he regards as an acceptable financial agreement between himself and the university.
"Since Mr. Wolfe resigned voluntarily last November, discussions have been on-going aimed at reaching an acceptable post-resignation agreement, including the use of a well-regarded and well-known mediator. After discussions which included mediation on December 18 left Mr. Wolfe's situation unresolved, discussions have been on-going including another mediation recently. Our position has been that any agreement would have to be consistent with the legal constraints within which a public institution such as the university operates."
The text of the full letter emailed by Wolfe is below. The annotation links to previous reporting and explanations of specific situations cited in the letter.
Missourian reporters Ellen Cagle, Crystal Duan, Austin Huguelet, Ruth Serven and Jack Witthaus contributed to this article.
Supervising editors are Tom Warhover and Elizabeth Brixey.
Show Me the Errors (What's this?)
(18) comments
@ Mary Douglass: For US the name change has been HIGHLY RELEVANT, particularly for national (out-of-state) publicity, recruitment and enrollment. And although we would have been the same institution with the SAME credentials, I seriously doubt we would have been rated #3 nationally by USA Today among public and private technical institutes in 2014 if under the ridiculous name "University of Missouri-Rolla." The #1 rated institute was Colorado School of Mines; #2 was Georgia Institute of Technology (aka Georgia Tech). Do the words "University of Colorado" or University of Georgia" respectively appear in those names? They DO NOT.
As for current educational trends, perhaps you will find the following comments made by a BLACK American professor (Harvard, Stanford), syndicated columnist, author and decorated economist interesting:
"In short they [students] are led to prepackaged conclusions, instead of being equipped with the intellectual tools to reach their own conclusions, including conclusions different from those of their teachers. In colleges and universities, whole academic departments are devoted to particular prepackaged conclusions - whether on race, the environment, or other subjects, under such names as black, women's or environmental 'studies.' Few if any of these 'studies' include conflicting visions and conflicting evidence, as educational rather than ideological criteria might require." - Thomas Sowell (1930 - ), PhD
Fortunately for me, I was educated in public institutions (K-12 and college) pretty much free of that stigma, and America's private and public technical institutes have largely managed to escape it. Hopefully that will continue.
I seriously hope ratings are not based on NAMES! Good grief! UMR is not a ridiculous name, it is distinct and descriptive. The entire "branding" concept is what is ridiculous. The money thrown away on the name changes was unforgiveable. Seriously. NO ONE CARES what the name or logo is, it is about the quality of the faculty. If the NAME makes a scholar decide where they will work, we don't need them. We need scholars who think a bit deeper and broader thank you!
Having said all that, I really don't care what the former School of Mines and Metallurgy calls itself these days. It will always be UMR to me, MS&T to you if you want. And yes, we are pandering to a generation of minds not groomed to think critically, but to follow the "job training" model into a future laden with debt. My personal favorites are the kids that show up to class in pajamas and house shoes. Hair unkempt and mouthy because class starts too early. Seriously.
@Ellis Smith, I am well aware UMR legally changed it's name back when we had the fiasco of higher ed name changes running rampant in the state. SMSU will still be SMSU to me as UMR will ALWAYS be UMR to me. I am also well aware of the stellar faculty and the work done from the Rolla campus...the name is irrelevant, the FACULTY and STUDENTS are what matter, and they are exemplary. All four campuses must come together, build on the strengths of being a system and minimize the weaknesses. Wilma Mankiller said it best "the war for our children will be won in the classroom". Sitting Bull knew how "let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children".
@ Joseph Lanigan: Thanks, I feel safer already. Like Blanche DuBois in the stage play/motion picture "A Streetcar Named Desire," I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
I'll be the tall old guy with the S&T ball cap, carrying a sign saying "FREE THE MINERS", and subtitled, "The Thirteenth Amendment Bans Involuntary Servitude."
Unfortunately, Joseph, Congress forgot to include "satellite" public university campuses. [beam]
Ellis Smith - Quite safe. On Nov. 14 I was on campus and in the Speakers Circle with a "Defund Mizzou" sign and not one cross word was spoken to me. Same when I took the same sign there the night that Ben Shapiro spoke at Ellis Auditorium. Hope to see you there. (My son, Kevin, just graduated from Webster last May.)
@ Joseph Lanigan: You're welcome. It's an approximate 600-mile round trip, but I might consider driving to and from Columbia to meet you and view your performance. Is it SAFE to enter the campus?
I can make my trip more productive by also visiting my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in Fulton, Missouri, and then visiting my younger granddaughter, who is a senior at Webster University. Of course that would be more than a 600-mile trip. As I've pointed out in previous posts, which you may not have read, with her small scholarship it costs us no more for her to attend that private university than it would cost her to attend MU as an out-of-state student. Nice, compact urban campus; gorgeous fall colors, particularly around the Quad. She has many of her classes in Sverdrup Hall. Webster's total enrollment (they have more than one campus) is similar to ours (MS&T). She is a transfer student, already having an Associate degree in digital sound recording from a technical institute in Chicago.
Ellis Smith - Thank you for your concern. If Webster U had been this embarrassing and this disgusting for such a long period of time, I would be burning my MA degree somewhere on that campus as well. I invite others to join me at High Noon in the Speakers Circle on Presidents' Day. I will be wearing a Mizzou sweatshirt, a Mizzou cap and carrying a handwritten sign. Rain, snow or shine.
@ Joseph Lanigan: I hope you aren't serious about burning your diploma. I'm sure you must have earned it. One of our alumni got so disgusted several years ago with a previous system fiasco that he removed his diploma from its frame and put it in the bottom of a dresser drawer. I'd recommend doing that versus burning any documents.
You know, all this talk about discrimination has gotten me thinking. We (MS&T) have been treated like second-class citizens at this university now for 145 years*, even though both historically and currently very few of our students and alumni have dark skin (and as I've previously explained, those of us who do are as apt to have come to our campus from the subcontinent of India or from Latin America as from being Americans whose ancestors were brought here in slavery from Africa).
Can discrimination be present when there is no racial component to it? I believe we have proof positive that it can.
*- UMKC and UMSL have only been part of the university since the formation of the so-called system (1963), so they've only undergone the same second-class status for 53 years. Lucky them! [tongue]
@ Mary Douglass: Sorry but there IS no more UMR, Mary. We petitioned the Curators in 2007 to rid ourselves of that name, and they granted our wish - effective January 1, 2008. You apparently have some catching up to do, but in that sense you are not alone.
Since the name change, applications for enrollment from students in Missouri and elsewhere have seriously increased, to the point where we are now "maxed out" for enrollment.
We are today the only one of the four campuses NOT having the words "University of Missouri" as part of our legal name. It appears we picked a VERY good time to rid ourselves of them. Perhaps we might now be allowed to move on and take the next logical step. A period of 145 years servitude should have been sufficient. [beam]
There is one bit of scholarship that MU can still claim: The picture of Dorian Gray. See everyone on Presidents' Day (no pun intended) in the speakers' circle.
@Ellis Smith...these are not lofty goals of which I speak. They are in fact FEDERAL MANDATES the State of Missouri agreed to meet and support way back in the mid 1800's. The laws have been tweaked to suit individual agendas, the needs have not changed the same. Research, education, and extension to drive the economy of the State of Missouri. UMKC, UMSL, and UMR all fare better as do their students under the proper system management. (Credits transfer to name one item that is an ongoing issue between institutions, you know there are more.) But let's place the responsibility and accountability in the order it belongs; 1. the Missouri legislature, 2. the Governor, 3. The Curators, 4. Faculty, 5. Students, 6. Citizens. The witch hunts must stop, sanity must reign, our state's economy depends on the success of the U of Missouri SYSTEM to succeed.
wow! On Presidents' Day, the next day I have off work, I shall drive to Columbia and burn my bachelor's degree in protest. Hardest part will be choosing where best to burn it at. So many choices.
Speakers Circle, bro. But then, you've either got to bring a sign with the word, "Hate" on it, or, a Hacky Sack. ;-)
@ Mary Douglass: Nice goals (seriously), Mary, too bad this pathetic "system" and its adherents are so mired in sloth and petty intrigues that they don't have time to pursue them.
As for the past, if you'd like, we (MS&T) can dredge up some wonderful and fully authenticated stories about it. We can begin with our having been forced into taking the Curators to court (1915). [We won.] We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of THAT fiasco.
UMKC and MS&T can serve the interests of the citizens of Missouri just as well if they can become independent of this quagmire - possibly even much better.
What a disgusting mess! Thank God I no longer reside in Missouri and must pay taxes to support it.
And so it continues. But let us not forget the goal...the U of Missouri SYSTEM is in place for valid reasons. To serve the people of the State of Missouri via research, education, and extension. Our curators must reflect these tenets as the triad of priorities as mandated for Land Grant universities. The university leadership must be educational leaders, scholars (PhDs) with substantive expertise and demonstrated leadership outcomes. The SCHOLARS that built one of the finest research institutions in the world worked together to create a stellar exemplary model. Subsequent generations have forgotten or were not taught what that is. Shamefully, our own governor does not advocate as he should for the economic engine of the state he governs. There are lessons here, foundations to build from, historical precedence to be remembered.
1. Replace the current board of curators with representatives of agriculture, public health, fine arts, education, technology (among others).
2. Create and implement a fully transparent search for new genuinely qualified leadership.
3. Demand our legislature fulfill the federally mandated state funding for our land grant university. Our legislature has LOTS to answer for as well. Yes. They. Do.
4. Demand a plan to eliminate tuition as per federal mandates for land grant institutions.
It's well past time to admit that "University of Missouri System" is badly broken and should be scrapped. It is difficult to believe that UMKC and MS&T couldn't do at least as well or possibly better if allowed to continue on their own - including being able to solicit their state funding DIRECTLY from the legislature.
Some of the accusations covered in this article don't even rate comment. Stated another way, it makes little difference to the continuation of the "system" regardless of who was at fault.
When a horse is already dead, the only thing that can be accomplished by continuing to beat it is to make it look ugly. It's ugly enough already. [angry]
The "Significant Ferguson Protestor" they were so worried about is likely Deray McKesson, twitter handle @deray. I've been following @deray since the first few days of the Ferguson fiasco. He's an outstanding non-violent activist whom I whole-heartedly support. If Deray has so many government agencies that worried about him, he's being effective. More power to him!
We should stay focused on the real problem here: selfish-righteous jerks like Sen. Schaeffer trying to bully administrators and run the University system to his liking. Just... no.
This was originally posted before the article was updated. Article update includes statement by Ken Burton about Ferguson protestors, followed immediately by information about DeRay McKesson's visit. I think I pegged that one.
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