Internal Athletic Board e-mails show more details about allegations of intimidation and mistreatment within the board than had been previously revealed.
The e-mails, obtained through the state's open records law, show several Athletic Board members felt they were being cut out of the decision-making process on the board or thought opposing views were not welcomed.
I do worry about a leader who cuts off discussion, who seems irritated when people ask hard questions, labels them 'malcontents,' and who yells at them,"" said one board member in a December 2007 e-mail concerning Athletic Board Chair Walter Dickey.
Some board members went to the University Committee, the executive committee of the Faculty Senate, with their concerns about how the discipline of former Badger football player Lance Smith-Williams was handled in 2007, according to a board member who said the incident was the most controversial thing the board had to deal with in recent years.
Several of the e-mails focus on Dickey's interactions with other faculty on the board. Multiple past or current board members asked to be quoted anonymously.
One such board member ended an e-mail writing, ""p.s. I'll sleep better if I know that you have deleted this e-mail after reading it.""
In an e-mail to another board member regarding Smith's discipline discussion, Elton Crim, clinical professor of education and former board member, wrote, ""I am of course trusting you not to share my comments. I'm not afraid to say what I think but I don't want them circulating around without me being the one to have sent them.""
""Walter was impatient ... and dismissive in his comments, and I don't think his behavior would encourage someone to ever raise a difficult question or offer a different point of view,"" another board member said, though they did say relations had improved within the board.
Dickey said one board member had come to him twice concerning his leadership style.
""She said to me that I have a very strong leadership style,"" he said. ""I took it as a compliment, because I was asked to be strong.""
He said that if disagreements were made ""bluntly"" or ""forcefully"" that did not mean people were being pressured, but simply disagreeing. Dickey said board members who had disagreements with him should have notified him of the issues and that no members had told him they felt pressured to act a certain way.
He said that he did send a letter of admonishment to a board member who mentioned a student-athlete's name in an open session of the Athletic Board and other board members urged him to do so.
Sheila McGuirk, a board member and professor in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, said the internal review committee set up by the Athletic Board last semester discussed some of the issues raised in the e-mails. She said the internal review committee, which she co-chaired, looked at issues of communication and processes within the board.
She said some of the communication issues involved board members who brought up issues in the wrong committee or because they had missed a meeting relating to an issue. McGuirk said she was impressed by the openness and willingness of members to work toward making the board function better.
Jeremi Suri, UW-Madison history professor who resigned from the board last year, previously said in a separate interview that board members had been ""personally intimidated"" when they disagreed with decisions. He said a ""fundamental"" problem was that the Athletic Board was a ""rubber stamp"" for the Athletic Department it is meant to oversee.
Suri showed frustration in several e-mails.
""Once again, the Athletic Board appears
to be the last to know about major policy changes,"" Suri said when taking about a proposed sharing of revenues on campus from an agreement with the Big Ten Network. ""I sometimes wonder why we bother to have an Athletic Board in the first place.""
Dickey said the agreement between the university and the Big Ten Network did not fall under the Athletic Board's authority. He said the University Committee raised no issues concerning the contract and only one board member thought the board should have played a bigger role in the decision.
Other Athletic Board members were also concerned about the board giving too much deference to the Athletic Department.
""Power and decision-making and information seems to be controlled by the chair more than it has under past chairs,"" one member said in a 2007 e-mail. ""His strong position and closeness to administrators is viewed by some as being too aligned with the Athletic Department versus representing faculty.""
Crim said Dickey ""pretty much supports whatever it is that the Athletic Department has to do.""
Dickey said he communicates often with members of the Athletic Department to make sure the best decisions are made. He said he meets with Athletic Director Barry Alvarez on a weekly basis.
""I would characterize my relationship with them as respectful and trusting, and I think that's a good thing, that is essential ... to open communication,"" Dickey said.
He said it would not make sense for the chair of the committee not to talk often with athletic administrators.
Professor Bruce Jones, former chair of the Athletic Board and the person who proposed the outside review committee that the Faculty Senate approved Monday to look at the board, previously stated that he wanted an outside group of faculty to look at the workings of the board because he felt there was ambiguity in the board's authority with regard to personnel matters.
However, the external review committee proposed by Jones was also seen by some members as a way to address allegations of intimidation, harassment and mistreatment, according to Suri's testimony at the senate meeting.
Dickey said he had mixed feelings about the external review committee. He said he did not think it was necessary but that a fair review would ""clear the air"" concerning the allegations, which he described as a ""smear"" because no facts or specifics about the accusations have been made public.
""I would really like to see that stuff put to rest,"" he said. ""I think any fair evaluation of the Athletic Board will clear the air and show what a hardworking and responsible group it is.
