Concert debacle increases UH faculty’s doubts over competence of leadership

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly branded the Stevie Wonder concert fiasco a "grave distraction illustrating a failure to assert responsibility and leadership at the highest levels at UH."

The comments came in a posting Friday on the faculty union’s website, uhpa.org, and followed publication Thursday of a July 16 letter by David Simons, the attorney for former UH athletic director Jim Dono­van. In the letter, Simons complained that his client was being made the scapegoat in the canceled-concert controversy.

The UHPA posting said that "a letter from Jim Dono­van’s attorney was released which casts doubts on the actions taken by the UH President and Board of Regents and the completeness of the investigation."

"The issues raised in the letter that the UH failure resides within the offices of General Counsel Darolyn Lendio and VP-Adminstration Howard Todo, has not been addressed adequately," UHPA said.

Lendio and Todo, whose title is vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, were not specifically named in Simons’ letter, but Kristeen Hanselman, UHPA’s associate executive director, told the Star-Advertiser late Friday that "those particular individuals were referenced in the letter, a reference being to the general counsel and to the VP of finance, those two individuals."

Specifically, Simons’ letter asserted, "crucial decision-making mistakes were made by (UH’s) general counsel’s office and (UH’s) fiscal office" instead of his client.

Both figures were also among those mentioned in the 57-page report by an external investigator.

Donovan was placed on paid leave July 11, one day after the cancellation of the ill-fated Aug. 18 benefit concert, and the revelation that $200,000 of UH money was missing after being wired as a deposit to secure the Wonder concert. UH officials now say they apparently were victims of fraud.

After an external investigation found no wrongdoing on Dono­van’s part, he was reassigned to an as-yet-unnamed position in the Manoa chancellor’s office Aug. 12 and was given a three-year contract with a $211,200 annual salary which will begin when his current contract expires March 23.

At the conclusion of a nearly eight-hour closed-door regents meeting Wednesday, the board reaffirmed the reassignment of Dono­van. Board Chairman Eric Martinson said, "We want to emphasize our strong support for the leadership of University President M.R.C. Greenwood and Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple."

UHPA said it "is very concerned that the decisions made by President Greenwood and the Board of Regents, including the transfer of Mr. Dono­van to another job will encourage legislative scrutiny of all UH funding creating significant uncertainty for our students and faculty. This situation is a grave distraction illustrating a failure to assert responsibility and leadership at the highest levels at UH."

A UH spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.

UHPA represents all faculty members of the 10-campus UH system, and Hanselman told the Star-Advertiser that "as a union we believe in contracts. It is a pretty simple premise. Mr. Dono­van had a contract, he was found not to have done wrong and, in our world, when that happens you get reinstated to the position that you held. And it is a pretty standard approach that we believe in and advocate on behalf of the people we represent."

Hanselman said the Wonder situation and its fallout are affecting UHPA membership. "That’s the feedback we’re getting. For some it has increased their concern about leadership. For others, I believe, it has increased their cynicism."

She said, "They are very concerned. They work at the university, and we want them to be able to have the best possible environment in which to instruct and do research."

Hanselman said UHPA "would hope that some better processes come through an openness to communicate with the public and with the employees of the institution and the Legislature so that we don’t have a sense of a loss of confidence and trust in the leadership of the institution."

UH memo to Jim Donovan