A vibrant community needs a strong university engaged in its cultural, social and economic life. Unfortunately, this was something Scott Scarborough never understood.
While his tenure as president of the University of Akron was short, those of us who love and value this region can only hope he hasn’t done irreparable harm to the university.
His imperial, condescending style of so-called leadership initiated policies, built on intellectual shallowness, that favored short-term expediency over respect for and investments in Akron’s students and faculty.
His resignation should inspire the university’s board of trustees to follow him. They are just as complicit in his failures and share the blame — and responsibility — for the damage that has been done.
I am baffled by Rick Fedorovich’s comment that the university look to a “different model” of leadership, not necessarily “the person that was a Ph.D. in education and has those types of credentials.”
Isn’t that exactly the route that was taken with Scarborough? A president with weak academic qualifications who put marketing, part-time faculty and “business” practices ahead of academic integrity and capacity? This should be repeated? Seriously?
A university is not a trade school or a business. It is a place of learning that provides students with foundations to adapt and act effectively in an ever-changing world, whatever their academic background. The key to that is a strong, valued faculty committed to its students, not marketing gimmicks or fads.
There are plenty of qualified, energetic, creative and visionary academic leaders from which the university can choose. Akron just needs to attract the right person and get him or her to see the potential here.
Greg Brozeit
Fairlawn
Hold the GOP accountable
Ryan Augsburger’s May 20 commentary, “Ohio needs a functioning Ex-Im Bank,” says a “fringe group” is hobbling the bank by refusing to confirm a third active member.
That “fringe group” is the Republican Party. Having lost a bipartisan vote to shut down the bank, Republicans, led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., are now refusing to staff the board, effectively shutting it down.
Many Republicans are driven by the idea that government is the problem, and that it needs to be drowned in a bathtub, or by similar drivel, such as cutting taxes and then complaining the deficit is going up. But in the case of the Export-Import Bank, the Supreme Court and other appointments, Republicans are throwing sand in the gears, causing malfunctions.
They should be held accountable, starting with Augsburger calling it like it is. As we look forward to November, remember the maxim that one is judged by the company one keeps.
Dick Bardoulas
Copley Township
Record of accessibility
I read with great empathy and emotion the May 26 commentary by Margaret Storey, “Public restrooms and dignity for all.” Because my granddaughter has similar disabilities as Storey’s daughter, I appreciate her position and perspective of the restroom controversy.
I believe, however, the hurt that she has suffered has skewed her reasoning.
First, her article depicts our society as uncaring about the tragedy that has come to her family (and countless others), while the truth is that America leads the world in providing accessibility to the handicapped. Indeed, we need to show more compassion, but the harsh reality is that no matter how hard we try and how much we spend, we can’t overcome the misfortune of so many.
Second, she errs in comparing the challenges faced by the handicapped with racial segregation. Restroom accessibility for African-Americans was denied based on racism and hatred. In contrast, our society is compassionate when it comes to the handicapped.
No challenged child or adult would be refused the use of any existing facilities.
Finally, those who are gender-confused are not being denied the use of a bathroom. Storey and their advocates ignore the rights of the majority of people who accept their birth gender but are asked to sacrifice their dignity by sharing restrooms with a small minority of those who are gender-confused and purport to identify with something they are not.
She mixes three separate issues: the physically challenged, to whom we are compassionate; the past problem of racism, which has been addressed; and the transgender minority, which is asking society to pay for a problem of its own choosing.
Rodney V. Pamer
Barberton