“He’s a rock star. He’s doing great work,” said Lawrence Boyle, University of Massachusetts trustee. He was talking about John Lombardi who will most likely be named our system president this Thursday.
Boyle seems to have Lombardi pegged with the rock star comment. He seems to be very stubborn, have an air of superiority, and his mouth can get him in trouble. That being said, he can repeatedly deliver and sell out a stadium.
He became chief of the University of Florida in 1990, and gained support from the students and alumni for increasing the school’s academic standings. He also became known for his outbursts whenever he disagreed with almost anything or anyone. He became infamous for calling Adam Hebert, State University System chancellor, an “oreo” at a private dinner party. This became public and hoopla ensued.
But before you get out the pitchforks and torches, Lombardi did apologize. Both he and Hebert have said the whole thing is behind them.
He resigned after giving four administrators pay increases of at least $25,000 without getting approval from the regents or chancellor. Sounds a bit like good ol’ boy politics, so maybe he will fit nicely here.
From there he went over to UMass in 2002, which was about to be hit with a $40 million loss in state funding. He played hatchet man and cut programs and laid off workers, while doing the ever-popular raising of student fees.
I know that makes me cringe a little, but Lombardi also pushed UMass away from reliance on state funds. He created the UMass Amherst Foundation, which has raised about $144 million in private funds.
“Dr. Lombardi does not enjoy working within the university system,” said Stephen Uhlfelder, University of Florida chairman of the Board of Regents. I’m left looking at that quote wondering if it is a bad thing.
Our Board of Supervisors has a Union fee increase on its agenda for July, and, yes, that is the one that 51 percent of us voted against.
“The public is very eager to see tuition cut to the lowest possible level. On the other hand, all the consumers of higher education want the best possible quality,” Lombardi said of a tuition increase at the University of Florida. It’s true, it’s eloquent, and hearing something like that might have inclined more of us to give up a few bucks for a shiny, new union.
He seems to get the job done, despite his rocky past. We already have a rocketman with our beloved Chancellor, so maybe a rock star is right up our alley.
—Contact Geoff Whiting at [email protected]