Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1982 [PAGE 261]

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250

BOARD O F TRUSTEES

[May

21

this fall rather than 9 1 . We will review that number when and if the funding base is strengthened. Controversy between the University of Illinois and the Western Conference You would perhaps think it unusual if I did not report to you that since the last meeting of the Board of Trustees the tension between the University and the Big Ten Conference grew to almost unbearable proportions. At this moment, a letter reporting the status of this matter is being mailed to nearly 2,500 special friends of the University of Illinois including newspapers, and television and radio stations across Illinois as well as to the presidents of our alumni clubs, members of the General Assembly, members of the Presidents Council, and other key individuals and groups. A copy of this letter should be before you. Additional copies, should you wish them, are available from Mr. Tobin. (A copy of this letter is filed with the secretary.) Considerable work remains to be done over the coming months. T h e decision by the faculty representatives to defer the effective date of the sanctions until September 1 was a major step by them to recognize that a fresh approach needed to be found to resolve the sharp differences between the University of Illinois and the faculty representatives and that an additional two-months' time would be helpful in this effort. Discussions will continue during this period. Also, efforts at the Urbana-Champaign campus to clarify roles and responsibilities in our program of intercollegiate athletics, several of which have been underway for a year or more, can be brought to a successful conclusion. This, in turn, will set the stage for a meeting between the faculty representatives and the representatives from the University of Illinois in late July or early August for the purpose of reassessing the entire situation, including the sanctions. O u r goal is to seek complete removal of all sanctions prior to September 1. H o w successful we will be remains to be seen. I n any event, I have every reason to believe the stage has now been set for positive resolution of this problem and that we will do so in a manner fully protective of the honor and integrity of the University and those associated with it and sustain our academic and athletic relationships with the Big Ten. I wish, at this point, to pay a special public tribute to Chancellor Cribbet and the manner in which he has carried the principal burden of this matter, not only in recent weeks but during the arduous nine-month period preceding. I t will be the chancellor and his staff, along with key faculty members, who will give direction to the steps to be taken over the next three-month period, and again, we will keep you informed. REGULAR MEETING RECESSED FOR LUNCHEON T h e time being 12:15 and with luncheon guests waiting, the board decided to recess and to reconvene and complete its business after luncheon.