St. Paul, MN - Representative Marion O'Neill, R-Maple Lake, and 37 fellow members of the Legislature have sent a letter to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents urging them to examine apparent conflicts of interest in the ongoing search for an interim Chancellor at University of Minnesota Duluth. The Regents are set to vote to appoint former Regent David McMillan, the only candidate named after two lengthy searches, as well as a contract which has not been made public, at 10am on Wednesday, July 13th. The two year contract could be as high as $400,000 per year.
"Despite having a qualified candidate who is the current Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the search committee neglected to even give her an interview, forwarding only one name to the Regents to vote on," O'Neill said. "The one name that was forwarded to the Regents is former Regent David McMillan, who resigned specifically to seek this position, and who voted to approve UMN President Gabel's massive new contract and her request to raise tuition 3.5%. Several prominent figures including former Governor Arne Carlson, current Regent Rosha, and experts in law and ethics, have called out this entire situation as potentially a massive conflict of interest. We call on the Regents to go back to the drawing board and ensure this process is done with the highest standard of ethics and transparency."
You can read O'Neill's letter, signed by numerous members of the House and Senate Higher Education Committees, as well as other members of the House and Senate here.
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