 |
| Premier Christy Clark congratulates Arvind Gupta on becoming new UBC President - what went wrong later? |
Bill Tieleman’s 24
Hours Vancouver /
The Tyee column
Tuesday
September 1, 2015
By Bill Tieleman
"Proximity
to power deludes some into thinking they wield it."
-
Frank Underwood, U.S. president in House of Cards
When B.C.’s
highest paid public servant suddenly resigns his job after just 13 months but
won’t say why, and the Board of Governors has a majority of provincial
government appointees with BC Liberal ties, it’s not a personnel change — it’s
a coup.
When B.C.
Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson claims University of B.C.
president Arvind Gupta’s August resignation is merely “a matter between the
Board of Governors and their employee” — it’s a cover up.
When Judy Kirk, a
veteran BC Liberal — connected public relations expert, is seen attending a
secret, unannounced board meeting after Gupta resigns — it’s provincial damage
control.
When the
then-chair of UBC, John Montalbano, admits calling a professor who publicly
criticized Gupta’s departure, a professor his business funded, and discussing
Jennifer Berdahl’s actions with her dean — it’s a threat to academic freedom.
Let’s avoid
delusion. The president of one of the world’s top 25 academic institutions has
been toppled in a University of Cards power play without precedent.
Gupta, who was
paid $446,000 a year to run a $2 billion annual UBC budget with $575 million
contributed by the province, didn’t just decide to quit only one year into an
ambitious five-year term on a whim.
His board
obviously forced him out.
President
had big plans
As
UBC president, Gupta was ranked
number 39 of Canada's 50 most important people by Maclean's magazine in
November. His stated goal
was to make UBC one of the world's top 10 universities and increase research
funding by $100 million during his presidency.
What
Gupta told Maclean's -- which noted Gupta "isn't afraid of stirring the
pot" -- seems prophetic today.
"What
we're doing now is not good enough," he said.
It's
no wonder those involved don't want taxpayers to know why they are now stuck
with an extremely expensive bill to replace Gupta, and why a world-renowned
university is left with a bruised reputation just as it celebrates its 100th
year.
The
recruitment costs to determine Gupta was the best choice for the job were a reported
$430,000 -- an amount that will need to be spent again or even exceeded to find
a permanent replacement after a former UBC president returns for a one-year interim
term.
Gupta
is also being paid his $446,000 salary while taking a year's leave of absence
from UBC.
Quick
review needed
This
unbelievable and reprehensible situation should never have happened.
Now,
the only way to clear the air is through an independent review by a respected
individual. It must be conducted quickly, in 30 days, with a report being made
public.
That
independent reviewer must have Gupta's explicit approval, and the
"confidentiality arrangement" that Gupta and UBC signed must be
exempted from impeding the review.
Whatever
happened, and why, must come out. Anything less will leave UBC wounded for
years.
Already
major donor Allan Eaves, CEO of Canada's largest biotech company STEMCELL
Technologies, is calling
on Premier Christy Clark to launch an investigation, and for Montalbano to
resign as chair.
"Something
had clearly gone wrong, and we don't know what that is," Eaves told Global
TV. "As a taxpayer, I want to know what's going on, why has this happened?
I'm sure our wonderful government under Christy Clark would want to know
too."
Provincial
hand?
However,
I suspect an investigation would show that the provincial government either had
a hand in Gupta's exit or expressly authorized it.
Minister
Wilkinson -- a lawyer, doctor and Rhodes scholar -- is no dummy. There is no
way a UBC board with a majority of directors appointed by the province could
demand and receive Gupta's resignation without political approval.
If
Wilkinson didn't give the okay, it would have had to come from Clark herself. I
don't see another realistic way that such an enormous step could have happened.
The
provincial government appointed
11 of 21 UBC directors, and it's already known
that many are BC Liberal Party donors and supporters, including Montalbano,
former CEO of RBC Global Asset Management.
Gupta
was initially well supported by Clark, who had him on her CKNW radio show as a
regular guest when he was CEO of Mitacs, a non-profit connecting research with
industry and government.
When
he was made president, Clark said in September 2014: "The installation of
Dr. Arvind Gupta as president and vice chancellor is a great moment for UBC and
for post-secondary education in British Columbia."
"Dr.
Gupta's outstanding track record in research, development, and innovation will
further cement UBC's position as a world-leading research and teaching
university that strengthens our whole province," Clark stated.
Clark
also tweeted: "Congratulations @ArvindUBC on taking the reins at
@ubcaplaceofmind. Great things ahead."
Gupta
joined
Clark last October on a trade mission to India.
But
now "great things" and Gupta's UBC presidency are already behind him
-- why?
I
think the B.C. government knows, and it can tell -- but it will take faculty,
staff, students and taxpayers to force the review of UBC that's now so urgently
needed.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment