Faculty Group Condemns Regents' Hiring Of U. Iowa President

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- A day before the decision, the University of Iowa's governing board was warned that choosing Bruce Harreld as president would badly damage its relationship with the faculty.

In a Sept. 2 email obtained by The Associated Press, Faculty Senate President Christina Bohannan told the Board of Regents that Harreld had a "clear lack of faculty support."

She warned that choosing him over three other candidates who had "tremendous support from campus constituencies" would lead to calls for a no-confidence vote in the regents. She says regardless of how the vote turned out, "it is hard to see how the Regents' relationship with faculty could thrive under such circumstances."

The next day, the regents voted unanimously to hire Harreld, a former IBM executive with no prior experience in higher education administration.

University of Iowa