Gov. Linda Lingle and UH President Evan Dobelle appeared together in March to announce a new six-year contract for the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly.
Lingle dismisses
any political motive'Tin ear' may have been fatal flaw
Gov. Linda Lingle says David McClain, the University of Hawaii's vice president for academic affairs, would make a good president for the 10-campus system.
Lingle strongly praised McClain, named acting president by the Board of Regents following the firing of Evan Dobelle as UH president, yesterday.
"We are fortunate that Dave McClain is there. He's a person I've worked with closely, the regents worked with closely, and he has dealt a lot with us," Lingle said at a news conference yesterday at her office. "I have the highest respect for Dave McClain."
Asked if she thinks McClain should be considered by the regents as a permanent president, Lingle said, "Yes, I do."
Lingle, however, said it is up to the regents to organize a search for a new president.
Lingle sought to separate herself from the regents' Tuesday night decision to dismiss Dobelle, saying that she had no hand in it and that the regents were not acting on her behalf.
The issue is politically charged because Dobelle, a former national Democratic Party officer, was featured in a television commercial endorsing Lingle's opponent, then-Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, in the 2002 governor's race.
"There is absolutely no relationship between what Evan Dobelle did during the campaign and what the Board of Regents did. The decision was based on facts, his behavior and his performance as the president of the university," Lingle said.
Lingle said yesterday that the regents' decision was "a surprise. I had no idea that would happen," she said.
While Lingle said she did not know the circumstances that led up to Dobelle's firing, she noted that it was well known that the regents and Dobelle had clashed repeatedly since his hiring in 2001.
Lingle urged the regents to make public, as soon as possible, the specific reason Dobelle was discharged "for cause."
"I think the public should be told at the earliest possible time exactly what the basis was for the decision, and I would assume that the regents feel the same way," Lingle said.
The regents have already been criticized by former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who said they acted with "no class" by firing the UH president while he was away on a family trip.
But Lingle questioned whether all the facts were known about the regents meeting.
"I think it is important for the facts to come as to whether or not the president knew about the meeting, whether he was invited in fact, in advance or not, whether they moved the meeting to accommodate him and then he didn't come to the meeting. ... It is important for everyone to allow the information to come out from both sides in a factual manner," Lingle said.
Regent Kitty Lagareta said the regents had originally scheduled the meeting to review Dobelle's performance for today and tomorrow, but it was changed to accommodate Dobelle after he said he would be able to attend a meeting earlier in the week.
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UH football coach June Jones, a self-professed "big Evan Dobelle fan," expressed sadness over the ouster. Dobelle is shown here in 2001 congratulating Jones after the football team's big win over Brigham Young University; quarterback Nick Rolovich is at left.
Dobelle’s ‘tin ear’ might
have been his fatal flaw
When the president of a small but elite East Coast college interviewed with the University of Hawaii's presidential selection committee almost four years ago, he outshone the other candidates, according to some former committee members.
"He impressed and inspired people. He is a man of dreams and vision," said former committee member Dan Boylan, a history professor at UH-West Oahu. "He thought big and we needed a big thinker."
But Tuesday, the Board of Regents fired UH President Evan Dobelle. Although the firing followed months of tension, many on the university's 10 campuses and elsewhere in the community reacted yesterday with shock and bewilderment at the regents' unanimous decision.
Many also felt cheated of an explanation for his firing. And students who confronted the board before they resumed meetings yesterday morning were told the regents could not give the reason and that it was up to Dobelle to release publicly his evaluation.
Meanwhile, others cried politics, and some wondered if something more ominous or criminal drove the regents' decision.
"It's a tragedy for him, the university and the regents," said Boylan.
But Boylan noted that like a classic tragedy, the rise and fall of Dobelle featured a hero with a mortal character flaw.
"If this is a tragedy and Dobelle is its hero, then his flaw is that he had a political tin ear," he said.
Boylan and others said yesterday that Dobelle blew it early when he publicly endorsed Democratic candidate Mazie Hirono for governor. They agreed that polarized him from Gov. Linda Lingle and the supporters she had on the board, and forever politicized the relationship between the board and its chief executive officer.
"As a university president, he should have remained neutral," said Boylan. "His responsibility is to protect the university, and it was a very tight race and she (Lingle) was no threat to the university. She wasn't going to shut it down or not fund it."
Boylan and others also noted that Dobelle fell short.
"If his performance had matched his promise, the Mazie thing would have been nothing," said Boylan. "But he didn't produce enough results in three years."
Boylan also said the board should "have risen above" the Democratic endorsement. He said that with the abrupt firing -- while Dobelle was on a college trip to the mainland with his son -- the board has also been tainted. From now on, he said, the regents "will look like a partisan board that is vindictive against someone who didn't endorse their master."
Boylan also said Dobelle was "his own worst enemy" and that "little things and big things" made many people turn on him.
If not the shoes without socks or the sporty Porsche, Boylan and others said, it was the arrogant manner, the hiring of people he knew on big salaries and the use of expense accounts. Boylan said that Dobelle ignored that Hawaii "is its own subculture."
Without a reason given for the firing, many declined public comment yesterday while others just speculated.
"I don't know what to think," said UH football coach June Jones. "I am a big Evan Dobelle fan. He was one of the biggest backers not just of football, but of the entire athletic program, and from that stand, I'm saddened. This kind of thing hurts your school."
Some in the business community who have ties to the university expressed concern yesterday.
Mike Fitzgerald, president and chief executive of Enterprise Honolulu, a group that focuses on entrepreneurs and business growth, said that whether someone was for or against Dobelle, the situation was "unfortunate and regrettable."
"To have that much churn and discontent is not good for (the university and) the business climate -- and the sooner that we get it calmed down, the better," he said.
History professor Boylan concluded: "UH is a great institution and it will survive this. In many ways, great institutions run themselves."
