DEAR EDITOR:

Appalling! An institution of higher learning that selects a partisan hack and election denier is appalling! Universities are the foundations of critical thinking, advanced study, learning and promotion of academic excellence.

The only reason U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson seems to have been chosen to be YSU’s next president lies with chamber of commerce core advancement, not academia and benefit to humanity.

The Republican Party, of which Rep. Johnson is firmly entrenched, seems to have fully embraced the dumbing down of America. Just look to the rhetoric of wokism. The Republican Party has become the party of book banning and fear of learning.

What is the matter with YSU’s Board of Trustees? It was one thing when Tressel was brought on board and did usher in an era of expansion of the physical and outward appearance of the university. Now it would be fitting to expand the inner excellence by promoting a visionary academic who will take the university to a higher level of academic excellence through recruitment of great academic experts and top-level research programs.

Bill Johnson is not the right fit for our beloved university.

KATHLEEN BERRY

Youngstown