With former president Dr. Michael Grandillo’s and former athletic director Kellen Winslow’s resignations over a month past, students and faculty alike are still struggling to sort through a deluge of emotions and questions that have arisen since March 12 when Grandillo’s resignation was announced over Spring Break.
Recently a group of trustees from Lakeland’s Board of Trustees came to visit and speak with students and faculty to address their concerns.
The main question that has been in many people’s minds is: What did Robert Melzer, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, mean when he said, “In the end, the trustees and Dr. Grandillo differed philosophically on a number of decisions”?
Melzer’s statement claiming differing philosophies was sent in an informational email that went out to all Lakeland College students on March 14.
Paul White, director of the Hayssen Academic Resource Center and assistant professor of general studies, attended a meeting the Trustees held with faculty on April 2.
When asked whether he had any further insight into the nature of the philosophical differences, White said, “Not really. I think Bob Melzer mentioned a few things, but those were very general sorts of things. …
“They did provide some examples in the context of the faculty and staff meeting. The one example that stuck in my mind…had to do with some of the very rapid expansion of athletic programs and the decision to pull back a little bit from a women’s bowling team. … But that’s just an example. I think that’s just one piece of it.”
When the Trustees met with students later that day in an open forum setting, Melzer discussed Grandillo’s emphasis on speed and second connects as well.
“Second connects are things that you do outside of the classroom that are a part of your [college] experience,” said Melzer.
Upon hearing about the speed with which Grandillo was pursuing the improvement of second connects, one student at the open forum asked, “Do you think that he maybe had reason to think that he had to move quickly?”
Melzer replied, “I guess it’s really a difference of perception. The search committee and the Board of Trustees have been at the school for a long time. We have a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.
“We have an understanding of the future needs of the school and in our analysis we’re not debating whether there’s a need for includement (sic) or a need for change.
“But in our estimation, we wanted to do this in a prudent fashion, as opposed to Dr. Grandillo who arrived at the scene, and he looked at the facts, and he reached a conclusion that there was a need for quick action, and in his mind he came up with the expression of being ‘nimble, quick, and entrepreneurial.’
“We’re not against being nimble. We’re not against being quick. We’re not against being entrepreneurial, but we want to do it in a proper fashion.
“Based on what we know about education, about the school, and about the local community, we did not see an alignment between the actions that he thought were appropriate at this time.”
In the same vein students at the meeting also questioned the Board of Trustees as to why Grandillo’s differing philosophies were not seen earlier on in the hiring process.
One animated student asked the Board, “I think that you should have at least had a view of where he was standing, how fast he wanted to make the changes. Why wasn’t this seen before? Why did we go with him, and now nine months later, he’s gone?”
Michael Bogenschuets, vice chairperson of the Board of Trustees, responded by saying, “It’s a very tough process. It’s a process that is as good as you want to be at it, the resources that you spend at it, or the help that you try to get with it with consultants or hiring agencies. It still is not a perfect process. …
“We were looking for someone with the right qualifications, and we thought we had it, but there just was not that mesh that we were hoping for.”
As for Winslow’s replacement, April Arvan was chosen as interim athletic director through a discussion with Nate Dehne, vice president for student development. Arvan was an interim athletic director in 2004 as well.
In this temporary position, Arvan plans to “continue on the path that we have been on for the past six months of ensuring our student athletes have the best Division III experience in the nation.”
“After Kellen resigned as athletic director, there were continued discussions with him through our administration,” said Arvan.
Arvan does not plan on staying in this role as athletic director.
“My passion for being in the classroom is too strong to move out of that role,” said Arvan.