Gee, with finals week and all, I totally missed Tuesday’s story in the Ann Arbor News that EMU Board of Regents member Philip Incarnati is now the former chairman of the board. To quote from the opening paragraphs of the article:
Citing increased responsibilities at work, Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents Chairman Philip Incarnati has decided to step down as board chairman.
Incarnati, who led the board during the approval and construction of the controversial University House project, will remain a regent until his term ends in 2010.
In a letter to board members Monday, he cited an increasing workload as chairman and chief executive officer of McLaren Health Care Corp. of Flint as his chief reason for resigning.
Huh. Well, if you believe all that, I have a president’s house to sell you.
Anyway, I think today’s Ann Arbor News editorial sums up my thoughts on the whole matter. To quote:
Incarnati’s stone-cold contempt for public accountability dragged the painful episode out much longer than was needed, and his silence (except for a written statement to other board members) continues as he nestles into a spot out of the limelight.
Ideally, Incarnati should have given up his seat on the board as well as his leadership post. But his script continues the face-saving that was so important as Kirkpatrick left campus, armed with an agreement that the regents would not criticize him. And, in return, he would be mum about them.