The financial scandal that has wreaked devastation on the University of Arizona with spiraling budget deficits, looming mass layoffs, large program and budget cuts reached its point of no return on Monday.
Gov. Katie Hobbs unleashed her fury at the three principal actors who have been engineering a frantic recovery operation to try to salvage the university’s finances and reputation.
If University President Robert Robbins, Regent Fred DuVal and Regents Executive Director John Arnold still wondered on Sunday if they might pull this off, by the end of Monday they understood their own jobs and reputations are in peril.
In a statement on Monday, the governor delivered a scathing rebuke to the three and their desperate attempts to pull UA and the Board of Regents out of the nosedive created by an epic breakdown in management and oversight.
The governor’s tough words did not only chasten the three in the harshest terms but cut them adrift.
If this is a scandal at the highest reaches of higher education in Arizona, it will not be a scandal that devours the Ninth Floor.
So said the governor in her own tough way.
“It is crystal clear that the handling of the University of Arizona crisis is heading in the wrong direction. New facts have come to light that once again show the Arizona Board of Regents failed in their oversight role and highlight a university leadership that was clueless as to their own finances.”
A governor who had earlier given the three troubleshooters an exceedingly short leash to try to fix the problems and stabilize their institutions, had now clearly run out of patience.
Her fury was triggered by contradictions coming from the Board of Regents, explained The Arizona Republic’s Helen Rummel and Hannah Dreyfus, who have led the reporting on this evolving story.
Last week, board officials sent Hobbs a report that insisted regents were “vigilant” in negotiations that resulted in the UA’s disastrous acquisition of the academic white elephant — Ashford University.
Yet, even before the governor got the report, the board’s executive director told The Arizona Republic’s editorial board that the regents “did not independently vet the acquisition,” the two reported.
Also sparking Hobbs’ ire were threats from the Board of Regents aimed at UA’s Faculty Senate.
Confronted with withering criticism from UA faculty for his connections to a private equity firm with interests in higher education, DuVal threatened to sue one of the Faculty Senate leaders for defamation.
Another member of the Board of Regents suggested that in retaliation UA President Robbins should replace UA faculty leadership.
The governor did not merely react. She thundered.
“In the past days, instead of addressing their failure of leadership, ABOR has told conflicting stories to me, the press, and the public about the purchase of Ashford University,” she wrote.
“And while I have not been given the facts and therefore cannot comment about the veracity of recent statements from faculty regarding ABOR board members potential conflicts of interest, I do know one thing: ABOR members attacking faculty, even going so far as threatening a lawsuit, is not leadership.”
She was not done.
Blame UA:For breaking its own piggybank
“I cannot be more clear: because of Chair (Fred) DuVal and the Board’s actions, university employees are going to lose their jobs.
“... Instead of taking any accountability and guiding with a steady hand, ABOR is circling the wagons and announcing they are litigating personal grudges during Board meetings. ... This behavior is appalling and unacceptable.”
“Appalling” and “unacceptable” are not words you easily walk back.
The governor was telling her state she cannot trust the UA president and his allies on the Board of Regents to solve what is now a $177 million budget shortfall of the university’s own making.
Her words pulsed with this logic:
How do you let the people who steered the UA ship into the financial rocks and the people tasked to oversee and prevent such recklessness do the work of righting the ship?
“At some point, enough needs to be enough, and that time is now,” asserted the governor.
“The state and the University of Arizona have suffered immense reputational damage as a result of this crisis. This lack of accountability and continued scapegoating can no longer continue. I am demanding an in-person meeting with ABOR leadership and President Robbins immediately where we will discuss next steps.”
In what must have been a humiliation, DuVal responded that he appreciates Hobbs’ “engagement” and looks forward to answering questions.
A governor who late last month told Capitol Media Service’s Howard Fischer that she was not calling for the resignation of UA President Robbins and “we’re going to let this play out,” has now crossed her Rubicon.
From this point forward the governor’s office no longer trusts the people leading the UA financial recovery. Hobbs made that clear.
As governor, she is the chief executive officer of the state. As CEO she must have confidence in the people tasked with restoring the financial wellbeing of one of the state’s most important institutions — the University of Arizona.
Her words on Monday were a tipping point. She signaled a change in leadership is imminent.
By so publicly expressing her distrust of current leadership, she made that change imperative.
Now, she has no choice but to act.
Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.
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