DAD’S WEEKEND GUIDE: From history to the football game to best ways to spend the weekend, it’s all inside!
NO REST FOR GROCE There’s basketball season, and then there’s recruitment season
FOOD FOR THE HOLIDAYS
IMPORTANCE OF THE YOUNG VOTE
OVP hosts Thanksgiving basket donation drive
Columnist says the young people’s voices should be heard in government
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THE DAILY ILLINI
TUESDAY
November 11, 2014
5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 45
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Board reviews nominees for UI president DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
ZOE GRANT THE DAILY ILLINI
Dr. William Sullivan of the Department of Landscape Architecture gathers with fellow supporters of James Kilgore to speak with reporters outside the Henry Administration Building on Monday morning.
Kilgore supporters rally
BY FARAZ MIRZA STAFF WRITER
Supporters of James Kilgore rallied on Monday to urge the Board of Trustees to reconsider the former African Studies professor’s employment status at its upcoming meeting. Although the Board of Trustees will meet in Chicago on Thursday, there is no item on the agenda pertaining to Kilgore’s employment. William Sullivan, professor of architecture landscape and member of The Friends of Kilgore, addressed a small crowd outside the Henry Administration Building. “This has been a long story, hasn’t it?” Sullivan asked. “Let me put this in plain English: the committee found that no errors were made, no corners were cut, no policies were violated in hiring Dr. Kilgore over these past four years.” The Friends of James Kilgore was formed by tenured faculty members, following Kilgore’s unemployment, and advocates for his rehire. The group protests that the decision to reconsider his contract was made in response to political pressure and not based on his performance or academic contributions. “We appreciate the many thousands of people, on our campus and beyond, who have signed petitions, written email messages to the Board of Trustees, taken action and seeked to reinstate James Kilgore to the University,” Sullivan said.
Kilgore, former non-tenured lecturer and African Studies researcher, was told in April by Provost Ilesanmi Adesida that he would be no longer be employed by the University after his contract expired on Aug. 15. Though he was not given an explicit reason, this occurred after media attention was drawn to Kilgore’s past criminal record as a member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army, known for the kidnapping of Hearst Media Company heiress Patty Hearst. He was involved in a 1975 bank robbery, in which one woman was killed, though he was not the gunman. Kilgore went into hiding following these crimes, until he was caught in Cape Town in 2002 and served six years in prison in the United States. Following the conclusion of his sentence, Kilgore joined his wife Teresa Barnes, teaching at the University until his dismissal inMay. In response to strong backlash from students and faculty, Adesida appointed a committee on May 13, chaired by Professor Matthew Wheeler of the Department of Animal Sciences, to investigate the hiring processes used to hire Kilgore. “The provost asked the committee to look closely at the policies for evaluating criminal background of future employment,” Sullivan said. According to the committee’s recommendation
released on Aug. 26, it did not support a permanent exclusion of employment for Kilgore. “The committee submits that barring Mr. Kilgore from employment while those policies and procedures are created would single him out unfairly and unnecessarily, given his creditable employment record with the University,” the recommendation stated. Sullivan read a brief selection from the committee’s report during the conference, which stated: “Specifically, we would endorse the professional judgments of units wishing to hire Mr. Kilgore during the Fall 2014 semester pursuant to the hiring practices currently in place.” Merle Bowen, director of the Center for African Studies, also voiced her support for Kilgore, stating that he is a tremendous asset to the University. “At the Center for African Studies, he wrote numerous successful grant proposals and played a leading role in developing our U.S. Department of Education Title 6 application, that was funded in the amount of $2.2 million,” Bowen said. “In addition, he played a key role in conceptualizing and developing our outreach and educational programs.” Dede Fairchild Ruggles, professor of landscape architecture, said the committee has also recommended that the University develop a criminal background check policy that requires
all new hires to be subjected to a criminal history review — a recommendation she considers problematic. “They are not a body of expertise in this issue ... the implication is that virtually everybody with a criminal record poses a potential threat to the University,” Ruggles said. “I want to remind us that we are talking about people who have already been put through a process of law, been judged, served their time. Who are we (to) retry them?” On behalf of The Friends of Kilgore, Sullivan called on the Board of Trustees to do four things: to follow the recommendations of the committee and reinstate Kilgore, to issue a public statement commending the committee for its review of the case, to refrain from further interference in the hiring decisions made by executive officers and to recognize the authority of campus administration to carry out their designated duties and responsibilities. Barnes concluded the conference by thanking her husband’s supporters and everyone in attendance. She went on to say that academic freedom and transparency is necessary to maintaining academic institutions. “We call on the Board of Trustees to absolve the matter of reinstating James Kilgore positively this week,” Barnes said.
LEFT: PHYLLIS WISE
RIGHT: ED MCMILLAN
versity of Illinois. He said he also hopes to see increased state funding for higher education. “It’s a real honor to be asked to be a part of a transition team for any elected official, but I’m particularly honored to be on governorelect Rauner’s team,” McMillan said.
He added that he will push for new programs to improve Illinois’ agriculture industry. Rauner said he prioritizes an increase in education funding using tax revenue, but does not support raising taxes to do so.
Faraz can be reached at famirza2@dailyillini. com.
Rauner plans for higher education Rauner is scheduled to meet with Wise and McMillan BY JOSH WINTERS STAFF WRITER
Governor-elect Bruce Rauner tapped University Chancellor Phyllis Wise and Trustee Ed McMillan to be part of his transition committee on Thursday. “I am excited and honored that the University of Illinois will be among the voices representing higher education
and helping the new governor to ensure our state remains a national and global leader,” Wise said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to joining the other members of this transition effort and to the work we will do.” The transition committee is comprised of business, faith, community and political leaders who will help the new governor acclimate to his new office by identifying problems that Illinois is facing and working to devise solutions to these problems. McMillan also expressed enthusiasm for his appointment, and said that he plans to be an advocate of the Uni-
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The Board of Trustees will meet for a daylong special meeting on Tuesday held in executive session at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare hotel to review candidates for the president of the University, as confirmed by Trustee Karen Hasara. Hasara said she does not know how many candidates the presidential search committee has placed on the list for the board to review, and it will be the first time the board looks at the names. Hasara said she believes the meeting Tuesday was put in place in preparation for Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, to give the board the possibility of voting on a candidate. “It would be wonderful if we could come out with the person we think is the best candidate, but if we can’t do that (Tuesday), we certainly don’t want to rush into anything,” she said. Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting will be
held in Chicago. It was originally scheduled to be held in Springfield. The 19-person presidential search committee was formed in April. Since this summer, the committee has narrowed a list that originally started at 200 nominees. Previously, Douglas Beck, co-chair of the committee, said he predicted the committee would be able to forward a list of names to the board by Thanksgiving, but the schedule is still subject to the flexibility of the candidates. “I think it means hopefully we are right on schedule of where we want to be,” she said. “I’d say we all pretty much agree we want someone who can lead the University into the future and has strong academic and leadership abilities — someone (who) gets along well with people and the media.” Beck and Pam Strobel, co-chairs of the Presidential Search Committee could not be reached by press time.
MELISSA MCCABE THE DAILY ILLINI
University alumnus Mabinty Tarawillie speaks during the Ebola 101 Teach-In on Monday.
Ebola 101 panel dispels myths
BY CAMILLE MURRAY STAFF WRITER
Several University departments held an Ebola 101 Panel Discussion on Monday to dispel misconceptions about the recent viral outbreak and to help inform the public about the University’s involvement with the affected areas. The event was held at the Siebel Center and organized by the University’s Center for Global Studies, Center for African Studies, Global Health Initiative and the University YMCA in response to the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, particularly in the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. “We have a relationship with a university in Sierra Leone, and we had students and faculty who were in Sierra Leone over the summer and developed some relationships there,” said Jeremie Smith, outreach coordinator for International Programs and Studies. “When the Ebola outbreak began, there was an initial feeling that we should learn more about what’s going on so we can help.” The event was free and open to the public. “I think one of our objectives is just to provide an opportunity for accurate information,” said Gregory Damhorst, head of the University’s Global Health Ini-
tiative. “What the general public is hearing about Ebola is often either misguided or somehow politically exploited. A lot of the fear, I think, has come from that.” He added that the general public has heard all about the few people in the United States who have contracted the virus, but not as much about the thousands of people in West Africa who have been affected, both directly and indirectly by economic conditions and school closings. The discussion panel for Monday’s session of the event consisted of several University faculty members, including Gay Miller, professor of pathobiology; Brenda Wilson, professor of microbiology; and Robert Palinkas, director of McKinley Health Center. Mabinty Tarawallie, a University alumna from Sierra Leone, also spoke at the discussion. Tarawallie spoke about how the outbreak has negatively affected her home country in terms of education, travel and personal interactions. Because schools have been shut down, the government is using radio and television as a means of education, though not everyone has access to such technology, Tarawallie said. “Ebola is threatening to reverse years of educational progress in West Africa,
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