Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1946 [PAGE 621]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

A-3

BOARD OF

TRUSTEES

[July 25-26

ship. A want of confidence in Dean Benner as head of that College has been apparent since an early period in his administration and has steadily increased, both on and off the campus, especially in recent years. "It is our judgment that the College of Education can not develop satisfactory relations with the secondary schools of the State nor effective programs in teaching and research here at the University under his direction. W e believe that he should not be continued as Dean of the College beyond the expiration of the present term of his appointment. "We are making this statement as members of the University staff, each of whom has official obligations with respect to one or more of the important problems now confronting the administration of the College of Education." T h a t letter, which will be introduced in evidence, bore the signature of nine Deans. Dean Benner and his counsel have referred to this letter as constituting charges against Dean Benner, and there was an early characterization in one of the letters by the President referring to this letter or, rather, accepting Dean Benner's characterization of the letter as charges. I do not think, myself, that is accurate. A more accurate characterization of the letter would appear to be that it places in writing, and was really expected to be confidential, the deliberations between the President and the principal executive officers of the University, the ones who have the principal contacts with Dean Benner, of their judgment about Dean Benner. T h e issue does not relate to June 3, 1944, it relates to July 25, 1945. T h e letter will be introduced in evidence. It has never been before the Board before but it does not seem to me to constitute charges. Now, inasmuch as these Deans are the ones who were principally in contact with Dean Benner in his administrative duties, a number of them will be presented to you to testify. I will present a few of them, and Judge Johnson has asked that they all be available. F o r my purposes the calling of a few will suffice. My reason for introducing evidence here is merely to indicate to the Board and to have before the Board at the outset some of the basic reasons why President Willard saw fit to make the recommendation which is now pending before this Board, that Dean Benner be not continued after the expiration of his contract, on September I, 1945.

OPENING STATEMENT FOR D E A N BENNER BY M R . JOHNSON

M R . JOHNSON: Members of the Board: I think I would like to state our viewpoint on what the real issue here is. I don't know whether Mr. Marshall and I are just engaging in a bit of semantic exercise here, but maybe it is largely a matter of words, I think perhaps it comes down to the same thing, but I would like to state my interpretation o f what the issue is before this Board. I think it is a little bit wider and little bit larger than stated by Mr. Marshall, although he states it in essence. And I want to say at the outset, just in case we get into arguments, as lawyers sometimes do, that it has been a great pleasure to work with Mr. Marshall in making these arrangements in so far as I have been given an opportunity to express my opinion about the arrangements for this hearing. I was not sure that I could trust myself to state the issue without putting it on the record and I think I will therefore, to make sure that I say this the way I want to say it, follow pretty closely a statement that I had here, a copy of which I will hand you, Mr. Marshall, later, and I think I have enough copies to be passed around for each individual member of the Board. Now, first of all we endeavor on the characterization of the— PRESIDENT LIVINGSTON: The record might show that another Trustee, Mr. Walter McLaughlin, just entered the meeting. M R . JOHNSON: I might repeat, so that the member who just arrived may know what I am driving at, that I am undertaking, Mr. McLaughlin, to state our theory of the issue before the Board. Mr. Marshall has just finished stating his conception of it. First of all, I disagree somewhat with the statement of counsel that there are no charges before the Board and that no charges were made against Dean Benner and that the issue is simply whether a recommendation is to be approved. Now, that may be stating it a little too baldly, but that is approximately what it comes to, I think. I do not intentionally mean to misstate counsel's position but