As recently as June, U of L President James Ramsey wrote to Robert Felner saying, "You have done an incredible job here, and I am deeply indebted...I do want to get together to chat and get some of your ideas on things still to be done with the College … cannot run the risk of letting the Indians get back in control of the reservation."Setting aside whether Ramsey's reference to one branch of my ancestors is offensive - the university press office is now distancing Ramsey from the series of behaviors that netted Felner 33 complaints and grievances from numerous members of the faculty.
University spokeswoman Cindy Hess told C-J, "It is important to note that the complimentary e-mails to Felner from university administrators were not about his management style, but rather his ability to achieve goals and objectives during his tenure at U of L."
The letter which can be seen at Page One lays out Ramsey's case; that initial grievances were dismissed (mistakenly?) as being from faculty who couldn't live up to the increased demands.
Ramsey writes: "It is fair to say the CEHD has had some history of concerns about its leadership."
Ramsey also, amazingly, discounts the no confidence vote taken against Felner. Now, maybe I'm naive and no confidence votes happen all the time - but this seemed pretty unusual to me.
If Ramsey now believes faculty complaints to be valid, it is surprising he would try to dismiss them, and the no confidence vote, at this late date.
To Ramsey's credit, U.S. Attorney David Huber confirms that the original complaint against Felner came from U of L.
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