A bitterly divided Board of Trustees of the City University of New York voted Monday night to hire as president of Hunter College a city official with impressive political connections, but little experience in higher education.
The board voted 10 to 6 to name Jennifer J. Raab, the chairwoman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, as Hunter’s new president, following an acrimonious debate between board members who typically had been united on such decisions in the past.
The board’s selection of Ms. Raab came at the urging of Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City, both Republicans, whose offices reportedly had contacted several board members in recent weeks to make their wishes known. The board’s decision went against the recommendations of CUNY’s chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, as well as the board member who led the presidential search, Benno C. Schmidt, and various other student and faculty leaders at Hunter, which is in Manhattan.
Both sides seemed to agree that Ms. Raab, a lawyer, had shown a remarkable amount of political savvy and forged close links with city and state leaders in her eight years at the helm of the preservation commission. Yet while her supporters characterized her political ties as an asset likely to help her bring attention and financial support to Hunter, her detractors alleged that string-pulling by her friends in power was about the only thing that put her in the running for the job.
For his part, Chancellor Goldstein said Ms. Raab “had very deep support from the mayor and the governor -- that was very well known, and made clear in the process that we went through.” He praised Ms. Raab as smart and politically seasoned, but said he “did not believe on the merits” that she should be picked over the other remaining candidate for the job: Jo Ann M. Gora, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Va.
Herman Badillo, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, said he favored Ms. Raab because she had shown “diplomacy, sensitivity, and the ability to negotiate with people who have conflicting views on just about everything” in her role as the head of a commission that often handles major disputes between developers and preservationists. “If we have somebody who knows the city and the city’s problems, and knows how to negotiate with people within the city, that is extremely important,” Mr. Badillo said Tuesday in an interview.
But Bernard Sohmer, the chairman of the CUNY Faculty Senate, called Ms. Raab’s qualifications for the job “absolutely minimal, at best.” He noted that she has no experience in higher-education management other than a current seat on an advisory council at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where she earned a master’s degree in 1979.
Mr. Sohmer, who is an ex officio member of the CUNY board, and other trustees also questioned whether Ms. Raab’s experience at the commission, which has about 60 employees, is adequate preparation to run a college with about 3,500 employees and 20,000 students.
At Monday’s meeting, Chancellor Goldstein formally recommended, and Mr. Schmidt informally urged, the selection of Ms. Gora. “I thought the person who needed to be appointed at Hunter was someone who had experience managing a complex organization, someone with experience in higher education, who had shown a capacity to raise funds through various mechanisms,” Mr. Goldstein said Tuesday. Ms. Gora, he said, fit the bill, and “clearly was the candidate who was genuinely supported by the search committee.”
During Monday’s meeting, the Rev. Michael C. Crimmins, a board member who opposed Ms. Raab’s selection, complained that “outside political intimidation” had been used to sway the board’s decision. In a subsequent interview, Father Crimmins, a Roman Catholic priest, charged that board members who work for, or have contracts with, the city or state government had expressed fears of professional or financial repercussions if they defied the wishes of the governor or the mayor.
None of the board’s other members confirmed having expressed such fears, however, and several strongly denied being unduly pressured. “It never would happen,” one trustee, George J. Rios, said.
Kenneth S. Sherrill, a professor of political science at Hunter, and one of three faculty members on the search committee, said he was contacted by both Republican and Democratic officials who strongly recommended Ms. Raab for the job. “I am continually amazed by the range of people who respect and admire her,” said Mr. Sherrill, who ended up supporting her. “I really think that she’s got tremendous potential.”
John Morning, a board member who opposed the selection of Ms. Raab, said he worries that the controversy over Monday’s vote will deter other candidates from applying for presidencies within the CUNY system. He also questioned whether it would make it harder for Ms. Raab to do her job when she takes office at Hunter, at a date yet to be determined.
“Running any urban university is challenging enough without having to win over the faculty and student body before you even get into the position,” Mr. Morning said.
Background article from The Chronicle:
