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AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY. SERVING MACOMB SINCE 1905.
WesternCourier.com
Friday, October 4, 2019 - Vol. 120 Issue 20
@WesternCourier
Board of Trustees names Abraham Interim President
DEVON GREENE/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Bill Thompson (right) and Henry Oursler (left) speak to the Board of Trustees By Devon Greene editor-in-chief
The Western Illinois Board of Trustees met on Thursday afternoon in the University Union to discuss various issues around Western. After an almost three hour long closed session meeting, the Board of Trustees agreed to make Acting President Martin Abraham, the Interim President of Western Illinois University. The first item on the agenda was public comments, and the first to speak was Tom Blackford, a professor in the mathematics department. Blackford thanked the current Board of Trustees for their hard work but wanted to make sure that they did not fall back into their old ways. "My message to you will be very simple, I want to keep moving forward, I don't want to go back,” Blackford said. “I’ve been at WIU for 17 years and I can honestly say that the morale from the fall
of 2015 until past June had never been worse.” Blackford supported Abraham and commended the efforts he has brought to the table since taking over as acting president. Next up was Theresa North, who spoke of the “contentious” board meeting in June that she attended. North filed multiple Freedom of Information Act requests that helped to uncover the illegal activities that the previous board was a part of. Union Leader Bill Thompson spoke next in support of Abraham. “Martin Abraham is trusted by the faculty and has helped raise faculty from the morass of the past for years,” Thompson said. Thompson commended Abraham on his intelligence and vision when it comes to running the university. He also said that Western deserves a president that has been thoroughly vetted by a large search committee and said that Abraham was sub-
ject to one of the most diverse and thorough search committees in recent history. “No one is destined to be president, even acting president, and no one has a right to that position. People must earn that responsibility, Martin Abraham has.” Following Thompson was Admissions Counselor Sarah Gibson. Gibson is a former study abroad advisor who wanted to advocate for the study abroad program and the students who wish to pursue their education outside of the United States. Gibson said that the student population in study abroad has increased by 40 percent but the staff has been reduced to only one worker. She also said that for the first time in the 20 year history of the Study Abroad program, they didn’t hold a fair this fall. Associate Professor Pat McGinty was up next and he voiced his support of Abraham as well. “It is my belief, that those gathered behind me today,
would agree that Martin Abraham has the full confidence and overwhelming support of the entire WIU faculty,” McGinty said. “Given the past few years we’ve experienced, that's actually saying a lot. In fact, that should be all we have to say. Not appointing Dr. Abraham would be appointing someone who potentially does not have the support of the academic staff, we’ve been there, we’ve tried that.” Next was Marjorie Allison, a professor in the english department. Allison has been at Western since 1994 and has been a part of various organizations on campus and was part of the faculty senate. Allison said she has been on sabbatical for this semester, and hasn’t had the chance to interact with Abraham as much as she would’ve liked to, but has only heard great things from her colleagues and members of the community. Allison then warned the Board of Trustees against making a huge mistake.
“What I truly hope does not happen, is you appoint someone inside Western to be the interim president,” Allison said. “The vote of no confidence by faculty just two years ago was not just a vote of no confidence in President Thomas, it was a vote of no confidence in the entire administrative team. That administration damaged WIU. Faculty, staff and students are all still reeling from the decisions that we can not understand.” A shift from the focus on Abraham came from Elaine Hopkins whose focus was on Tri States Public Radio. Hopkins has attended every Board of Trustees meeting for the past year and has advocated for TSPR ever since. She stressed the importance of the radio station to the Macomb community.
Board of Trustees page 3
Correction: In today's print edition, Christopher Pynes' name was misspelled in the story "Board of Trustees names Abraham Interim President.”