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Dear Members of the Board of Trustees:

We, members of the faculty at the University of Illinois, write to support the letter delivered to you on March 15 2012 and signed at the time of delivery by 114 chaired faculty members. We express our deep gratitude for the actions you have taken thus far, and to reiterate that the best interests of all stakeholders in the University of Illinois, including you, will be served by a rapid and decisive termination of the Presidency of Michael Hogan. Indeed, the deterioration in the perception of Hogan since your Board meeting on the 5th of March makes it all the more urgent that action be taken quickly to preserve the credibility of the Board in the public arena as well as internally amongst the faculty, staff and students of the University. A Board that does not act when there is a President who is so ethically and reputationally compromised as to be unable to function is one that is, in truth, itself unable to effectively govern the institution that it stewards. Given the challenges that the University faces in an uncertain period for the State of Illinois, we view it as essential that Hogan's failed Presidency be seen for what it is, and that a path be forged which can rapidly restore a healthy governance structure.

First, we sincerely thank you for the expeditious response to the concerns that many had raised about Michael Hogan's presidency of this University. The emergency meeting of the Board on Monday, March 5, a week after receipt of the chaired faculty letter of February 27, was a welcome indication of the seriousness with which the Board regards the complaints about Michael Hogan's presidency. We applaud you for acting quickly and for the unequivocal statement of expectations that your Chairman expressed publicly at the close of your meeting. This attitude of the Board stands in stark contrast to that of President Hogan himself, who continues his disdain for the views of the senior faculty of this university, about his Presidency. Hogan repeated this week before the Illinois Senate his view that the chaired faculty letter did not represent "a no confidence vote" in his Presidency, being merely "a letter written by 114 faculty members dealing with certain issues in the university" (News-Gazette, March 13, 2012, p. A-1.) [The actual number of signatories was 130.] We thus thank the Board for taking the faculty views more seriously than does President Hogan, who still apparently views the original signatories as a small band of disgruntled "employees". (News-Gazette, February 25, 2012, p. A-6.)

Second, we stand behind the specific allegations about Hogan's presidency contained in the chaired faculty letter of February 27 and leading to their conclusion that Hogan should be removed at the earliest opportunity. These allegations were questioned by Tom Hardy, the University spokesman, who at times appears to be more focused on representing the views of the Office of the President than on speaking for the University: "There are a number of inaccuracies ... that the letter hangs on," Hardy said, "So I would question some of the veracity of some of the contentions contained in the letter." (Illinois Public Media News, February 24, 2012.) When pressed for examples by reporters from the News-Gazette, Hardy referred to the fourth bullet point of our letter (then still in draft), which stated:

"Hogan has by-passed the chain of command by meeting with deans and with the Council of Deans on matters of substance without securing the presence of either our Acting Chancellor or Acting Provost"

In rebutting this alleged "inaccuracy" Hardy stated that Hogan "maintains he's never done that." (News-Gazette, February 25, 2012, p. A-6.) Yet the facts that have been verified since the letter of February 27 made clear that Hogan not only met "with the Council of Deans without securing the presence of either our Acting Chancellor or Acting Provost," he positively ordered them to absent themselves while he, Hogan, addressed the Council of Deans without their presence. (Daily Illini, February 29, 2012, p. A-3.) The only "inaccuracy" of the allegation was that it had been understated.

Similarly, facts subsequently revealed have confirmed the accuracy of the other allegations contained in the letter to the Board of February 27. The petulant bullying of Chancellor Wise was further revealed with recently FOIA-ed e-mails of Hogan to Wise about his having to walk to the stadium and his non-appearance on the field at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, as well as about the details of the Urbana campus' new football coach's contract. (News Gazette, March 2, 2012, p. A-1.) Hogan's insensitivity to the ethics of conflict of interest as regards Lisa Troyer, was manifest a few days ago in Hogan's holding open the possibility that he would not recuse himself if and when it comes time for the Office of President to review the disciplinary action against Troyer that may be initiated by the Urbana campus. (News Gazette, March 10, 2012, p. A-1.) This position has elicited amazement and disbelief amongst a faculty already jaded by earlier revelations in this case.

Third, at the conclusion of its March 4 meeting the Board in effect put Hogan on probation with its charge that either he change, or "people" would be changed. More specifically, the Board has charged President Hogan: (1) to exercise his leadership to make the university once again a place "where shared governance is fully embraced"; (2) to exercise his leadership to restore a collaborative atmosphere, "including one ... where there is a respectful dialogue between our senior leadership"; (3) "to play a leadership role in ... rebuilding faculty support, in restoring relationships between himself and the faculty, and in finding ways to make "the faculty feel welcome and important."

Hogan's performance to date on the three tasks with which he has been charged, is anything but reassuring. Hogan's actions thus far appear to be two in number. First, even before reaching out to the senior administration and faculty of the University, his first priority was to engineer something of a media blitz, giving a two hour interview to the News-Gazette (March 9, 2012) appearing on local television, and giving other interviews (ten in just one day according to the Chicago Tribune, March 9 2012). Second, on March 8 he sent a mass-mailing entitled, "Restoring trust, achieving our goals," addressed to "everyone" on the UIUC campus. The tenor of both efforts is the same.

The problem, as Hogan sees it, is that he just hasn't communicated well his many successes as President (these alleged successes are recited at length in his mass-mail letter) nor has he communicated adequately the obvious merits of his views on future proposed changes. He thus promises in his letter to "redouble [his] efforts to better communicate." "Shared governance" for Hogan apparently means explaining to faculty, senators, deans, and chancellors why his way is the right way. It is still a one-way learning experience, a top-down imposition of policy. Similarly, what a "collaborative atmosphere" means for Hogan isn't a genuine, two-way collaboration; such an atmosphere is achieved, says Hogan, when he doesn't lose "track of the fact that even when people don't agree with you, they feel better about it if they think you've listened to them." (News-Gazette, March 9, 2012, p. A-1.) This focus on form over substance reveals a truly cynical approach to governance, one which was at the root of Hogan's political and ethical problems, and of which he is manifestly either unrepentant or not sufficiently sensitive to recognize. The effect is the same in either case: further confirmation of the widespread view that Hogan is not up to the job of running the University of Illinois --- a position that requires consensus-building so that the University can adapt without dysfunction to the difficult environment for the State and for the Nation's higher education system in general.

It would be a lot to expect that Hogan could restore the trust and respect of this faculty, its senate, or campus administrators, by any Board-ordered eating of humble pie. For it is inevitable to view his efforts here as we do indeed view them: whatever patina of affability, openness, tact, grace, or humility that Hogan can manage to affect under the threat of losing his job, is not the real Michael Hogan we came to know over these last 20 months. Trust and respect, once lost, are not so easily recaptured by any such facade, no matter how skillfully manufactured. And this one is not that artful. Hogan's imperial ways make it impossible for him to give an apology that doesn't offend more than the behavior for which the apology is being given. His "apology" for the Lisa Troyer scandal in January was that he couldn't be expected to oversee beforehand the ethics of all 100,000 employees and students of the University but only to discipline those who lapse. His "apology" now? Only that he "regrets that this failure occurred" --- not that any action of his made it occur. Leopards do not change their spots, no one believes that they can, and this one doesn't really want to.

Moreover, trust is particularly hard to reclaim when the person who wishes to reclaim it is less than forthcoming on facts he knows are of high importance. The News Gazette of Wed March 14 2012 contained the remarkable revelation that Troyer's separation from administrative tasks for Hogan was purely formal --- she continued working for the University Administration on Hogan's behalf after stepping down as his Chief of Staff, and now wishes to be compensated for her efforts. It is difficult to exaggerate the impact that this finding, obtained again through FOIA'd emails, is already having on the university community. First, there is the clear lack of separation from her duties of an ethically-compromised administrator. These duties included, according to the emails, drafting statements made by Hogan since her dismissal and spending "many hours" (her words) reviewing Hogan's emails to respond to FOIA requests! Second is the stark contrast evident from the now-revealed state-of-affairs in Hogan's office post-dismissal and the statement offered by him on Jan 20 in response to a question posed by a reporter from the News Gazette: "Asked if he has talked to Troyer since the investigation, Hogan said, I call her from time to time to check up on her. ... I've been a good friend of hers for many years." In other words, Hogan's public statements are now at direct odds with the public record of his connections with his disgraced aide. This shows at best extremely poor judgment by Hogan, and at worst a level of openness that is not appropriate for a leader of the University of Illinois. Trust in such circumstances is out of the question.

In closing, we wish to communicate again to the Board our belief that the Presidency of Michael Hogan should be terminated as quickly as possible. We believe that no constituency will be alienated or harmed by such an action, because he has isolated himself from the faculty and even the administration that serves under him, building up a residue of ill-will, distrust, and disrespect that no amount of public posturing can erase. The sooner this is recognized, the sooner the inevitable change of leadership can take place. And the sooner all levels of the University, from its Board to its faculty, staff and students, can engage to meet the challenges facing their various missions in education, research and service to the State and to the Nation.


Respectfully submitted,

Sponsor

This letter was originally signed on March 15 2012 by the following chaired faculty at UIUC: Nancy Abelmann Associate Vice Chancellor for Research -- Humanities, Arts, and Related Fields, Harry E. Preble Professor Daniel P. Abrams Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering Richard Alkire Charles J. and Dorothy G. Prizer Chair Emeritus, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Heitor Almeida Stanley C. and Joan J. Golder Professor of Corporate Finance Imad L. Al-Qadi The Founder Professor of Engineering, Director, Illinois Center for Transportation Director, Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Lab Robert Averback Donald W. Hamer Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Tamer Basar Swanlund Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Rashid Bashir Abel Bliss Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Bioengineering Director, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Co-Director, Center for Nanoscale Science Jay Bass Ralph E. Grim Professor of Geology Gordon Baym Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics, George and Ann Fischer Professor of Engineering May Berenbaum Center for Advanced Study and Swanlund Professor and Head, Department of Entomology Dan Bernhardt IBE Professor of Economics and Finance Jim Best Threet Professor of Geology Richard Blahut Henry Magnuski Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Jose Antonio Cheibub Professor of Political Science, Boeschenstein Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy Kent D. Choquette Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering James J. Coleman Intel Alumni Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering John Cronan Head and Professor of Microbiology, Microbiology Alumni Professor Leon Decosta Dash Swanlund Chair Professor of Journalism, Director of the Center for Advanced Study Scott E. Denmark R. C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry Lizanne Destefano Director, Illinois Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Initiative (I-STEM), Fox Family Professor of Education, Professor of Educational Psychology Dana D. Dlott William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor of Chemistry Robert H. Dodds, Jr. M. T. Geoffrey Yeh Endowed Chair of Civil Engineering Sharon Donovan Professor & Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Diet and Health J. Craig Dutton Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Amr Elnashai Bill and Elaine Hall Endowed Professor Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans IBE Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Business Administration Placid M. Ferreira Department Head and Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering Firouz Gahvari Lieby Hall Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics Marcelo Garcia Chester and Helen Siess Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering John Georgiadis R. W. Kritzer Professor, Mechanical Science & Engineering John A. Gerlt Gutgsell Chair, Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Biophysics Nigel Goldenfeld Swanlund Chair and Professor of Physics Steve Granick Founder Professor of Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Laura Greene Swanlund Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics Margaret R. Grossman Professor and Bock Chair in Agricultural Law Martin Gruebele James R. Eiszner Professor of Chemistry, Physics, Biophysics, and Computational Biology Taekjip Ha Gutsgell Professor of Physics Bruce Hajek Leonard C. and Mary Lou Hoeft Endowed Chair in Engineering, Center for Advanced Study Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Michael T. Heath Fulton Watson Copp Chair in Computer Science Ian Hobson Swanlund Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Music Valerie Hotchkiss Director of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Andrew S. G. Turyn Professor, Professor of Medieval Studies, Religion, and Library Science Lawrence Hubert Lyle H. Lanier Professor of Psychology, Professor of Statistics and Educational Psychology Heidi Hurd David C. Baum Memorial Professor of Law, Co-Director, Program in Law and Philosophy David A. Hyman Richard & Marie Corman Professor of Law, and Professor of Medicine Scott Irwin Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics Anthony M. Jacobi Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering Jianming Jin Y.T. Lo Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering Shiv Gopal Kapoor Grayce Wicall Gauthier Chair, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Director, the Center for Machine Tools Systems Research Tschangho John Kim Endowed Professor of Urban and Regional Systems Roger Koenker William B. McKinley Professor of Economics Dave Kranz Professor of Biochemistry, Phillip A. Sharp Professor James H. Kuklinski Matthew T. McClure Professor, Department of Political Science Praveen Kumar Lovell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Paul Kwiat Bardeen Professor of Physics Fred Lamb Professor of Physics and Professor of Astronomy, Brand and Monica Fortner Endowed Chair of Theoretical Astrophysics, Director, Center for Theoretical Astrophysics Jean-Pierre Leburton Gregory Stillman Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Physics Anthony J. Leggett John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Professor, Professor of Physics, Professor in the Center for Advanced Study Deborah Leckband Reid T. Milner Professor, Department of Chemistry Andrew Leipold Edwin M. Adams Professor of Law, Director of the Program in Criminal Law and Procedure Jennifer A. Lewis Director, Materials Research Laboratory, Hans Thurnauer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Stephen P. Long Gutgsell University Endowed Professor Yi Lu Jay and Ann Schenck Professor and HHMI Professor, Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering Nancy Makri Gutgsell Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics Benito Marinas Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering Robert Markley W. D. and Sara E. Trowbridge Professor of English, Writing Studies, and Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies Moshe Matalon College of Engineering Caterpillar Professor Robert McChesney Gutgsell Professor, Professor of Communication Jeffrey S. Moore Murchison-Mallory Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Michael S. Moore Walgreen University Chair and Center for Advanced Study, Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy Catherine J. Murphy Peter C. and Gretchen Miller Markunas Professor of Chemistry Ralph Nuzzo Professor of Chemistry, G.L. Clark Professor of Chemistry William D. O'Brien, Jr. Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Eric Oldfield Harriet A. Harlin Professor of Chemistry Gary Parker Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Dept. of Geology Robert Dale Parker James M. Benson Professor in English Glaucio H. Paulino Donald B. & Elizabeth M. Willett Professor of Engineering Andreas A. Polycarpou W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering Thomas Rauchfuss Lycan Professor of Chemistry Laurie Reynolds Professor of Law, Prentice H. Marshall Professor Mark J. Rood Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering Taher Saif Gutsell Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Research Professor, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory Peter Sauer Grainger Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering Kenneth Schweizer Morris Professor of Material Science and Engineering Theodore Sougiannis KPMG Distinguished Professor of Accountancy B. F. Spencer, Jr. Nathan M. and Anne M. Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering, Director, Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory, Director, NEES @ Illinois, Director, Smart Structures Technology Laboratory R. Srikant Fredric G. and Elizabeth H. Nearing Endowed Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Donald Scott Stewart Shao Lee Soo Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering Kenneth Suslick Professor of Chemistry, Marvin T. Schmidt Professor in Chemistry Kelly Tappenden Kraft Foods Human Nutrition Endowed Professor, University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Billie Jean Theide James Avery Endowed Chair School of Art and Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts Deborah Thurston Gutsgell Professor of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering Maria Todorova Gutgsell Professor of History Charles L. Tucker III Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, College of Engineering and Alexander Rankin Professor of Mechanical Engineering Thomas S. Ulen Swanlund Chair Emeritus, Professor Emeritus of Law Albert J. Valocchi Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering Lila O. Vodkin Professor, Charles Adlai Ewing Chair, Department of Crop Sciences John Weaver Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering Scott R. White Donald B. Willett Professor of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering Carl R. Woese University Ikenberry Professor of Microbiology Huimin Zhao Centennial Chair Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering, IGB, Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology Charles F. Zukoski Elio Eliakim Tarika Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering James D. Anderson Gutgsell Professor and Head, Department of Education Craig Bethke R.E. Grim Professor of Geology Jeffrey R. Brown William G. Karnes Professor of Finance, Professor of Economics, Law, IGPA, and Director of the Center for Business and Public Policy David G. Cahill, Willett Professor and Department Head, Materials Science and Engineering David M. Ceperley Founder Professor of Engineering, Center for Advanced Study Professor Shun Lien Chuang, R. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Kathleen F. Conlin, Bernard Hewitt Professor in Theatre, Director in Residence Evan H. DeLucia G. William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology and Director, School of Integrative Biology Matthew W. Finkin Albert J. Harno and Edward W. Cleary Chair in Law, Professor in the Center for Advanced Study Richard L. Kaplan, Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law Huseyin Leblebici Merle H. and Virginia Downs Boren Professor of Business Administration Zaida Ann Luthey-Schulten William and Janet Lycan Professor of Chemistry Gholam reza Mesri Ralph B. Peck Professor of Civil Engineering Mark E. Peecher, Deloitte Professor of Accounting Sharon Shavitt Walter H. Stellner Professor of Marketing Steven C. Zimmerman Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry and Head, Department of Chemistry

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