Whistleblower out at UCA
The University of Central Arkansas board member who blew the whistle on former UCA President Lu Hardin’s efforts to keep a big bonus secret won’t return to the board.
Gov. Mike Beebe today announced a replacement for Dr. Michael Stanton.
The UCA faculty and staff senates had urged the governor to reappoint Stanton after the Greenbrier physician made public a memo by Hardin that eventually led to Hardin’s resignation under a cloud. Stanton had said he was willing to continue his service.
In July, Stanton gave reporters a memo Hardin had presented to UCA’s board during an executive session at a May 2 meeting. The memo recommended the board award Hardin a $300,000 bonus and said the vote did not have to be made public. The board followed the recommendation.
The memo bore the names of three UCA vice presidents, but Hardin eventually admitted he had written the memo himself without the vice presidents’ knowledge.
Hardin returned the money — less taxes — in July amid a statewide furor and announced his resignation in August.
The board voted 5-1 to buy out the remaining four years on Hardin’s contract for nearly $1 million. Stanton cast the only “no” vote.
John “Bobby” Reynolds of Searcy is Beebe’s choice to replace Stanton on the UCA board.
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 3:45 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!
January 18th, 2009 at 9:25 am
The fact that Mr. Hardin presented a memo that was not seen – or approved – by the people named on the memo would lead me to believe that this man might not be of the best character. Dishonest? – most assuredly. To keep a bonus secret? – not when you are being paid by the taxpayers and the students. This is not the role model we need to be leading our sons and daughters into adulthood.
And then to take Mr. Stanton out of his role as board member because of his honesty and his vote – what does that say about the governor’s character? Punishment for reporting dishonesty and voting against the dishonest. It’s a scary thought. Evil has won this battle.
We best keep our eyes and ears open in the future!