More On University Of Louisville's "Bride" "Corpse", Robert Felner, As "U of L's [President] James Ramsey Apologizes ...". Too Little, Too LATE, I Say

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U of L's Ramsey apologizes over Felner incident
'A lot of individuals' hurt, U of L chief acknowledges

By Nancy C. Rodriguez

"I do understand -- fully understand -- didn't appreciate it soon enough, but I fully understand that there are a lot of individuals who have been hurt," Ramsey said during the Wednesday meeting.

The Courier-Journal obtained an audio tape of the meeting through an open-records request.

"There are a lot of individuals who have been deeply scarred, and a lot of individuals who are very disappointed in their university. I am deeply regretful of that, and I alone have to take responsibility for that, and I do. … I should not have ever let that happen, and it did happen," Ramsey said.

The Faculty Senate, which is composed of 70 members, including a student representative, is the faculty representative body at the university. It is responsible for reviewing policies and documents affecting the faculty and making recommendations to the administration.

Felner, who resigned from U of L on June 30 to become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, is the focus of a federal investigation that was sparked by his alleged misappropriation of a $694,000 grant at U of L. No charges have been filed.

The investigation was triggered by the university, which handed the matter over to federal investigators.

Felner backed out of the Wisconsin job after the federal investigation became public June 20. U.S. Attorney David Huber has indicated the investigation could continue into October.

The investigation brought to light issues surrounding Felner's leadership at U of L's College of Education and Human Development and at other institutions he worked at before coming to Louisville in 2003.

Former faculty, staff, students and alumni have complained that Felner harassed, intimidated and retaliated against those who did not agree with him.
Provost also apologizes

During the meeting this week, Ramsey said he has "a personal responsibility to those who are hurt to do whatever I can to rectify that."His apologies were echoed by Provost Shirley Willihnganz.

"Mostly what I think I want to say is people have been hurt and something very bad happened, and as provost I feel like I am ultimately responsible for that. So to all of you: I'm sorry," Willihnganz said during the meeting.

Faculty Senate Chairwoman Melissa Laning, a librarian at the university, categorized the meeting as "somber."

"People were certainly really engaged in what was being said," she said.

In an interview, Willihnganz categorized the meeting as "hard, but necessary."

"I think we had an honest conversation," she said.

During Felner's tenure at U of L, more than 30 grievances and complaints were made against him by faculty, staff, students and alumni, many of which were anonymous or not considered formal.

The allegations include a sexual harassment complaint, which the university said was unsubstantiated, as well as complaints of harassment, intimidation and retaliation by Felner.

In July, Ramsey drew criticism from some on campus for referring to some of the complaints as "anonymous crap." Ramsey did not directly refer to that comment at the senate meeting, but he did say he felt the grievance process failed the university and resulted in only one of those complaints getting to his desk.
Letter urges review

This week, the Faculty Senate sent a letter to the U of L board of trustees asking that it initiate a review of managerial and administrative practices at all of the university's schools and colleges.

Ramsey said the administration would support that request at the trustees' board meeting next week.

During the senate meeting, both the president and the provost talked about the need for the university to move forward and learn from its experience with Felner.

"It is my sincere hope that I will, and we will, not let this happen again," Willihnganz said.

She and Ramsey said the university continues to cooperate with federal investigators and noted that U of L has taken other steps, including asking the Faculty Senate to review the faculty grievance process.

The university also has directed its Audit Services Office to begin an audit of the education college's finances. An independent firm also has been brought in to conduct an audit of the university's business practices related to research.

During the senate meeting, Willihnganz talked specifically about how the grievance and internal oversight processes failed at the university.

"Something went wrong with the remediation/grievance process," she said. "Some of the things that people have said are almost certainly grievable offenses. …

"The fear that people had that they would be retaliated against, that the system wouldn't treat them fairly, that they couldn't trust the process, that's wrong."

Reviews called for in July also showed that faculty and staff involved in research have not always filed conflict-of-interest and financial-disclosure forms required by the university, Willihnganz said.

"As we have been looking at things, that has not been done," she said, noting that the university has asked that those forms be filled out by Sept. 19. She said the university will be checking that faculty and staff who need to have complied with that request.
'Soul-searching'

Willihnganz -- who acknowledged the situation with Felner has resulted in some "soul-searching" -- also said she has discovered the university does not have statements on ethics, values or responsibility.

"Where is the culture that says people will act in responsible ways? People will act in kind ways? People will act in ways that value the humanness in each of us? We don't have that anywhere, and we probably need that," she said.

The university also needs to make sure that its policies are in one easily accessible location and that the information is up to date, she said. That information is now in different offices and is not always accessible, she said.

Willihnganz took comments from faculty during the meeting, including some from education faculty who talked about the pain some have suffered, in some cases being labeled whiners who were resistant to change or did not meet standards.

She and Ramsey said they are willing to meet with faculty and staff at the college, as a group and also individually.

Willihnganz said she was limited in what she could discuss regarding the investigation or personnel matters, and she said at one point that she was trying to "figure out how to not do more harm."

Editor's comment: With all the ARROGANCE gone since 21 former faculty members wrote that letter to the board of Regents, apologies are freely flowing like garbage at a big city garbage dump.

Too little, too late, if you ask me.