Dr. Sharon Hahs was elected to be the next president of NEIU starting in February at a contentious meeting of the Board of Trustees on Nov. 16.
All voted “yes” to Hahs, with the exception of one abstention from newly seated Trustee Carlos Azcoitia and one strongly articulated “no” vote from Student Trustee Peter Michalczyk.
After the vote, Board Chair Nancy Masterson and outgoing President Salme Steinberg brought Hahs to the board meeting.
Hahs addressed the meeting with, “Let me just say that I am delighted, I am honored to be selected as the next president of Northeastern Illinois University. … It is a dynamic university, it’s a dynamic city, and I like to think that it is actually the university of the future.”
“Dr. Hahs has a dynamic vision for the future of urban universities such as NEIU,” said Nancy Masterson in a written statement released by NEIU Public Relations. “She has a demonstrated record of developing new academic programs, a firm commitment to academic excellence and a strong record of faculty support which are areas of special importance to the Board.”
Trustee and member of the Presidential Search Committee Edward G. Dykla also said he voted for Hahs because, “I think the sincerity of her answers when we interviewed her, also the fact that she is from the State of Illinois, [shows] she knows the political game.”
Hahs said that the first issue she will have to deal with as president is “the learning curve. First we learn more about the university. There are lots of people with lots of expertise, and we want to work together to identify what the first set of issues are.”
As to a proposed 14.9 percent tuition increase, Hahs said, “Well, I need to be brought up to speed on that before I would comment.”
A war of words
Not all at the meeting had praise for Hahs. “Today is truly a dark and gloomy day at Northeastern University,” Michalczyk’s four-page speech began during the discussion before the election of Hahs.
“What we are seeing here today is business as usual. Back door deals, polarization and division of the campus community, and most importantly, morally reprehensible actions that are being taken by this Board,” said Michalczyk.
“The Board Search Committee has taken upon itself to decide to extend a contract offer to Hahs, one of the candidates for university president. This couldn’t have been a bigger mistake,” Michalczyk continued.
Trustee Walter W. Dudycz reacted to Michalczyk’s characterization with, “In my opinion, we have chosen not only the right but the best candidate for the job that she’s about to undertake. … I see this as being a very bright and sunny day.”
Michalczyk spoke about the interview process with the Student Government Association (SGA). He said that presidential candidate Dr. Nabil A. Ibrahim had researched information about the university, including memorizing line items from the budget, whereas Hahs had not.
“How can a potential president not do any research about certain basic things involving the campus?” Michalczyk asked in his speech.
SGA President Eron McCormick said that at a candidate forum exclusive to the SGA, the members present unanimously supported Ibrahim.
“I’m not attacking Dr. Hahs at all, but Dr. Ibrahim was a better fit in our opinion,” McCormick said.
After slamming Hahs, Michalczyk lauded Ibrahim, saying, “He has a proven record of working with minority groups, especially Hispanic and African American students. After all, we are a Hispanic-Serving Institution. We should pick somebody that has a shown a clear dedication to the causes of these groups.”
Dykla also took issue during the meeting to the charges in Michalczyk’s speech. “We were searching for this candidate for over a year. He said we didn’t have enough candidates. We were working on it for over a year. We had 66 candidates from around the country, and we boiled down [to] 10, six, two and one.
“They were very good, especially the last 10. We had Spanish. He mentioned the Spanish situation. We had two extremely qualified Spanish people, and they both withdrew at the last moment for personal reasons.
“Before I cast my vote, I resent the comment and am insulted by his statement of backroom tactics. It is in good, clear conscience. Over a year, [there were] 66 candidates, several Spanish. Two finalists were the best Spanish people you could have education-wise, [and they] withdrew. So in conscience, I am voting yes.”
Dykla then corrected himself, saying “I’m sorry, it’s not Spanish. It’s Latino or Hispanic or whatever you want to call them.”
Azcoitia abstained from voting, stating that being new, he did not have enough information to vote. He took issue with Dykla’s self correction, saying that he did not hear the entire comment but found the language troubling.
Hahs comes from Southern Illinois Edwardsville where she was provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and director of special projects.