UH-Manoa chancellor Tom Apple was fired last month by UH President Dave Lassner.
What is a chancellor anyways, and how is that different from a university president?
I gave a little lesson in a recent letter to the Star Advertiser.
Chancellor for Manoa campusDo you want someone to be a principal of a high school while being the superintendent of the Department of Education at the same time? Probably not, because that is an obvious conflict of interest.
Yet, we have recent columns by Dave Reardon and Dave Shapiro asking why the University of Hawaii system has separate positions for UH president and UH-Manoa chancellor. They asked why the responsibilities of both positions could not be done by the same person, like it used to.
With the UH system consisting of three university campuses and all the community colleges, it would be an obvious conflict of interest for one person to be the chancellor (equivalent to a principal) of the Manoa campus and yet be the president of the entire UH system at the same time.
Pablo Wegesend
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Lassner said he had no confidence in Apple's ability to stabilize finances for the Manoa campus. Apple's supporters said that he has responsive to student concerns and think that Apple's attempt to fire the university's Cancer Center director angered some powerful people.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20140801_UH_leader_defends_Apples_firing.html
I wonder if the true reason for Apple's firing has nothing to do with the stated reasons, but everything to do with Apple's statement in May 2013 about UH-Manoa's sports team going to Division II.
http://www.kaleo.org/sports/could-uh-athletics-leave-division-i/article_930fd484-b5f6-11e2-9ff7-001a4bcf6878.html
“If we’re not breaking even in three years, I really have to look at whether we will continue Division 1A athletics,” Chancellor Thomas Apple said.
I responded by saying...................................... Tom Apple should be fired
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/05/jason-collins-and-tom-apple.html
Excuse me?
Your telling us that the flagship university of our state shall be demoted to Division 2?
That's like asking Hawaii's people to accept 2nd class citizenship!We refuse to be treated like 2nd class citizens dammit!
By telling us (and the world) that it's possible that UH athletics could drop out of Division 1 is an early Christmas present to all rival college recruiters!
That's right, all the folks at Fresno State, Stanford, Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA, Boise State, Nevada, UNLV, BYU, Utah ....................... and on and on ..................... now have a new weapon to use against us when they go out for recruiting!
In other words, Tom Apple's words can have serious ramifications for the UH sports programs. Therefore, Tom Apple shall be fired!
At the time, Dave Lassner was not yet the UH President. Lassner was new to his current position when he fired Tom Apple, but I'm not surprised Apple's May 2013 statement was a major part of the reason Lassner fired Apple.
It's just that Lassner smart enough not to publicly mention it, otherwise, there will be screams that "sports take too much priority at UH"
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And now UH-Manoa's Athletic Director Ben Jay just said mentioned a possibility that UH football might become non-existent if the financial problems continue.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20140818_Jay_issues_statement_to_clarify_earlier_comments.html?id=271782181
After earlier in the day telling a Board of Regents committee, "there is a very real possibility of football going away," under questioning by the board, Jay said issued the following statement:
"My comments at the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics' meeting were made in order to convey a sense of urgency regarding the need to address our current funding model. In no way was I indicating that a decision on program reduction of any sport was under consideration. Rather, I was suggesting that the department's financial situation required that all possible scenarios be reviewed.
But just like Tom Apple's statements in May 2013, Ben Jay's comments will motivate rival college football coaches to tell recruits "don't go to Hawaii, their A.D. gave hints there'll be no football team before you graduate".
So Ben Jay might not be around much longer. And when he's fired, the officially stated reasons may not match reality ................... that Ben Jay would be fired for even implying UH football might not be around much longer.
