DEAR EDITOR:

Wherever you stand on Bill Johnson’s political record (and I have significant concerns, but am also willing to hold an open mind), the process through which he was chosen is a disservice to the Youngstown State University community locally, nationally and beyond.

The YSU trustees are vested with the authority to make a final decision on presidency of the university; however, possessing the authority to make a final decision should not be confused with possession of the infinite wisdom to do so. The process through which the vast majority of previous YSU presidents have been selected has never produced perfect results nor unanimous agreement; however, the previous approaches did maintain trust, transparency and accountability to the ongoing YSU community of stakeholders — a contingency that is much broader, diverse and longer lasting than the important, yet ephemeral term of a trustee.

Hiding behind the veil that an open process would strike fear and trembling into the best and brightest candidates is insulting to our intelligence. Anyone aspiring to lead Youngstown State University should understand and be willing to forgo the appropriate level of public scrutiny that comes with the privilege of doing so. The insular approach the trustees pursued in hiring the nest leader of YSU may be both common and appropriate for some organizations, including institutions of higher learning; however, the approach belies the best traditions the university and the broad and diverse communities it serves. Debating the semantics of calling the search process confidential versus closed loses sight of the broader issue: A significantly flawed process rarely results in an optimal outcome.

It matters not what spin the YSU trustees use to try to convince us. The shrouded process, the limited trustee-selected group of stakeholders who were privy to the candidate interviews, the, “hey we’re just following the hiring trends …” justification, all lead to the same conclusion. The trustees, in pursuing this path, have damaged the credibility of the university, and created a pit from which they and their chosen candidate will have to try to dig themselves out. The only question in my mind is whether any of them will consider what is in the best interest of the permanent YSU community, acknowledge their error and begin this process anew.

JAY WILLIAMS

Former Youngstown mayor

Hartford, Connecticu