Sunday's resignation by Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano shows just what a mess Gov. Rick Perry, Chancellor Mike McKinney and the A&M System Board of Regents have made of things. They have totally mishandled the running of the university and, in doing so, have threatened the many advances it has made in recent years toward becoming a first-class university.
In the process, Murano was treated shabbily and left dangling, waiting to be dismissed or to resign. With regents apparently planning to fire her on Monday, she took the graceful and dignified way out and, in doing so, gave those in charge of the system a golden opportunity to fix some of the myriad of problems they have created.
For the good of Texas A&M and, indeed, the entire state, we hope they do so.
The first step is for McKinney to appoint a committee of A&M faculty members to conduct a legitimate nationwide search for a new A&M president. It must have clear parameters and direction and it must be free from interference by the governor, the regents or the system administration.
The search must be thorough and exhaustive, making sure the next president has the ability, interest and desire to do what is best for A&M, the university.
At the same time, McKinney should clearly state that, under no circumstances, will he assume the dual role of chancellor and university president, as he indicated last month he might do. That would be a disaster for Texas A&M University and the entire A&M System. The two jobs are very, very different and no one person can effectively do both, as Jack Kenny Williams painfully learned more than 30 years ago.
At the same time, McKinney should clearly state that, under no circumstances, will he assume the dual role of chancellor and university president, as he indicated last month he might do. That would be a disaster for Texas A&M University and the entire A&M System. The two jobs are very, very different and no one person can effectively do both, as Jack Kenny Williams painfully learned more than 30 years ago.
Further, McKinney has so alienated himself from the faculty and staff of the university with his heavy-handed fumbling of the current situation that he would have no governing credibility whatsoever.
Gov. Perry must also assure the A&M System, the university and all the people of Texas that under no circumstances would he as-sume the chancellorship of the system, as has been rumored far and wide for several months. It may be his dream job and he might not want to face U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the March Republican primary, but he must keep his hands off the A&M System.
Texas A&M belongs to the people of Texas. It should not be treated as the personal sandbox of any politician.
Once the search committee has been allowed to do its job, regents must give the person it recommends every due consideration. They should resist the temptation to go outside the list of candidates considered by the committee to name a president, as they did with Murano.
Murano obviously wasn't given enough time to settle into her role as president. No doubt, she made mistakes along the way, but she seemed to be doing better and, had McKinney and the regents left her alone, she could have become a fine president.
She started off badly by firing A&M Vice President for Student Affairs Dean Bresciani and naming Perry friend and Aggie classmate Joseph F. Weber -- the retired commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command -- to replace him. Later, though, she bucked the governor and chancellor by following the recommendation of a university search committee that included faculty, students and staff to name Jeffrey Seemann, a dean at the University of Rhode Island, as A&M's vice president for research -- apparently against the wishes of Perry and McKinney.
The turmoil of the past several months has hurt A&M's ability to recruit qualified administrators and faculty, and, A&M researchers say, has hurt the ability of the university to attract grants and other funding. It also could affect the generous financial support for which former students are known.
The chancellor is supposed to represent and serve all components of the A&M System. As it is, many of the universities in the system feel slighted and left out. Having the chancellor assume the presidency of the premier university in the system would further distance them from the system. It simply must not happen.
Texas is blessed to have two outstanding university systems that rank among the best in the nation. It would be devastating for one of them to lose that status because of meddling at the very top.
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