AD finalists announced

[Bird Friend]

It can be easy to misinterpret comments, but you say "remember who hired the first black HC in D1 history" - okay, that was a middle-aged white male, I believe, Mr. Milt Weisbecker. Not sure what point you were trying to make, but that's my takeaway, that lots of different kinds of people can have lots of different kinds of attitudes and behaviors towards race (and gender for that matter).

Lots of posters have now jumped on you Bird Friend, for wanting to see a cast of diverse candidates, and somehow interpreted that you don't want to see the most qualified person hired. I assume that you DO want the most qualified person hired, but that you think there are well-qualified people of color out there who could be on the list.

I hope we can hire someone who's very well-qualified in terms of experience and leadership, and also is sensitive to, or has an affinity for (or some other language) the challenges faced by all parties, particularly the young people who come to ISU to participate in athletics who are people of color, or women.

I trust the candidates who've been chosen have the necessary leadership skills, but that the interview process will reveal if they don't.

Will it? Depends on what they ask, don't you think? I honestly don't believe Dietz has it in him to ask the requisite questions. And I know that some of those on the search committee aren't capable of asking those questions either. Maybe they'll surprise me, but considering our past . . .

 

[Bird Friend]

Curious? Do anyone know what clients the search firm has been hired by to find perspective collegiate ADs?

Not sure what you're asking . . .

 

[Bird Friend]

What a bunch of crap.
Based on that asinine comment, you're likely the same kind of person that cheers on the dude who identifies as a women as he squeaks past my daughter in the 800m.

Well, crap is what we've got, so why not change the perspective?

 

[Bird Friend]

Best qualified. That’s all. Putting any limits on the race, gender or ethnicity of candidates would be illegal, unwise and unfair to everyone. If I were a candidate, I’d want to know I got hired due to my merit rather than my DNA.

May I ask your race and gender?

 

[The Beak]

May I ask your race and gender?

As hard as it is to believe that there's only one candidate of color and one female and that both are in one candidate for this ISU job, there's a deeper problem here, and it's one the athletes brought to ISU admin attention this summer. The number of especially minority employees in the athletics administration pipeline is still thin considering college athletes for especially the major sports of football and basketball have been disproportionately black for half a century.

 

[Total Red]

The number of especially minority employees in the athletics administration pipeline is still thin considering college athletes for especially the major sports of football and basketball have been disproportionately black for half a century.

Scholarships to Division I universities to play football and basketball are highly sought after. As you correctly pointed out a disproportionate amount of those scholarships have been awarded to blacks in the last half century. Is that racism that needs to eradicated or do you get to pick and choose when equality and diversity will be enforced?

You get the best available person. It was good that Illinois State had a black President in Al Bowman but the beauty of the situation was that I never thought that he got the job because he was black and I never met anyone that did. It was widely assumed that he got the job because he was the best candidate - period. If someone had begun that hiring process by publicly refusing to hire a white male it would have placed a cloud of tokenism over his head which would have been disgraceful.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

Personally, I'm very disappointed in the lack of diversity. I honestly feel we shouldn't have any white male finalists . . . ISU needs to remember who hired the first black HC in D1 basketball. We could be a university that moves to the forefront of building up minority and female athletic department employees. ISU needs to send a message that we will support and uplift minority and female staff. Having another middle-age (or near middle-age) white male says pretty much the opposite.

All that said, I doubt Dietz has the guts to pick the lone minority candidate. And we probably end up with the Illini kid done good . . . hopefully he's not Larry Lyons 2.0.

This “merit be damned” viewpoint is what’s wrong with the direction of our culture. Selecting a candidate for a job shouldn’t be about checking identity and intersectionality boxes. I’m retired from a company that told white men my entire 30+ year career, not to bother trying to climb the ladder into management, because the company emphasis was on promoting women and minorities. Thankfully, I had so little respect for management, I didn’t want to become part of the problem. IMO, judging people on immutable characteristics is just as disgusting today as it was in decades or centuries past. Likewise, I wouldn’t want Dan to ignore merit based recruiting in favor of bringing more white diversity balance to our basketball team. Rewarding less qualified applicants doesn’t fix any problems.

 

[The Beak]

Scholarships to Division I universities to play football and basketball are highly sought after. As you correctly pointed out a disproportionate amount of those scholarships have been awarded to blacks in the last half century. Is that racism that needs to eradicated or do you get to pick and choose when equality and diversity will be enforced?

You get the best available person. It was good that Illinois State had a black President in Al Bowman but the beauty of the situation was that I never thought that he got the job because he was black and I never met anyone that did. It was widely assumed that he got the job because he was the best candidate - period. If someone had begun that hiring process by publicly refusing to hire a white male it would have placed a cloud of tokenism over his head which would have been disgraceful.

Yes you get the best available person, of course. Thought that went without saying.

When I say pipeline, I mean from the bottom up. Like why has athletic admin been so thin on minorities at the entry point, such as student help, interns etc that can eventually move their way up the food chain and learn how to be an A.D. or other top administrator? It's tough for a minority to get to the top when the entry point, for whatever reason, isn't actively recruiting or seeking out talented minority candidates. Even at ISU, the A.D. could have sought out qualified minority candidates instead of hiring family. It's a start. Can't get to the top if you can't get in the door in the first place.

 

[isuquinndog]

But in the business of college athletics, where a majority of participants are not white and half are women, are the best candidates all white guys? You say it should be the best candidate there is. What if these aren't the best but are only there because they are white? That's the issue.

 

[Total Red]

But in the business of college athletics, where a majority of participants are not white and half are women, are the best candidates all white guys? You say it should be the best candidate there is. What if these aren't the best but are only there because they are white? That's the issue.

I'm going to let President Larry Dietz take that one. Here's a quote from him -

“I was pleased with the efforts of Witt/Kieffer in the provost search that resulted in a strong, diverse pool of candidates and the ultimate hiring of Dr. Aondover Tarhule,” said President Larry Dietz, who added that Provost Tarhule is already having a significant impact at the University. “I expect Witt/Kieffer to similarly produce a strong, diverse pool of qualified candidates for the director of Athletics position at Illinois State.”


Provost Aondover
Tarhule

 

[CaliRdBrd]

As hard as it is to believe that there's only one candidate of color and one female and that both are in one candidate for this ISU job, there's a deeper problem here, and it's one the athletes brought to ISU admin attention this summer. The number of especially minority employees in the athletics administration pipeline is still thin considering college athletes for especially the major sports of football and basketball have been disproportionately black for half a century.

Jesus!
Just because you’re black (or female) and played college sports doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified to become AD or front office personnel. If they are, then fine...hire them. But at this point, we need the best person and if even they’re green, I don’t give a f*ck. Just turn this shitshow of a program into something competitive.
I would venture most people feel the same.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

But in the business of college athletics, where a majority of participants are not white and half are women, are the best candidates all white guys? You say it should be the best candidate there is. What if these aren't the best but are only there because they are white? That's the issue.

But in the business of college athletics, where a majority of participants are not white and half are women, are the best candidates all white guys? You say it should be the best candidate there is. What if these aren't the best but are only there because they are white?

Well...one could argue the scholarships themselves are biased since most are awarded to black athletes.
Honestly, where does it end!?!
Hire the best person for the job and the hell with what color, religion, or sex they are. Frankly if you have a problem with that approach, then the issue resides in your mirror.

 

[The Beak]

Jesus!
Just because you’re black (or female) and played college sports doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified to become AD or front office personnel. If they are, then fine...hire them. But at this point, we need the best person and if even they’re green, I don’t give a f*ck. Just turn this shitshow of a program into something competitive.
I would venture most people feel the same.

You're missing my point, See my reply to Total Red.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

You're missing my point, See my reply to Total Red.

The reason there aren’t that many hirings is simply due to the fact that many aren’t qualified.
Google Scott McNeally’s response to Jesse Jackson’s attempted shakedown of Sun Microsystems when McNeallly was CEO, for perspective.

 

[The Beak]

The reason there aren’t that many hirings is simply due to the fact that many aren’t qualified.
Google Scott McNeally’s response to Jesse Jackson’s attempted shakedown of Sun Microsystems when McNeallly was CEO, for perspective.

Again, you're missing my point. I'm not talking about the top. I'm talking about Athletics Admin entry points (getting people into the pipeline when they're young) to be able to move up the ladder. Surely you're not arguing that minorities aren't qualified to get into the pipeline at the ground level?

 

[HailISNU]

I can’t believe someone actually posted that we shouldn’t consider any candidates of a specific race and gender and after two days the post is still up. I was going to report it but it seems admin saw it and deemed it an acceptable thing to post in this forum. Incredible.

 

[redbirdfan04]

I can't believe the finalist for our new AD position turned into a typewriter race debate. Only in 2020. At this point I hope they hire an African American/Hispanic/queer and becomes the best AD in ISU history. Before this conversation got way to deep my only request is they hate Bradley, Uof I, and want to win! Come on everyone let's get back to talking about how we don't have an IPF, not in the SEC, and the bball team has a washed up coach that can't recruit. Merry Christmas!

 

[TBS_20]

While I want the best candidate (and none of these are it) it would be nice to hire a black person I must admit. It's sad because it is obvious there are many racists in here

 

[CaliRdBrd]

I can’t believe someone actually posted that we shouldn’t consider any candidates of a specific race and gender and after two days the post is still up. I was going to report it but it seems admin saw it and deemed it an acceptable thing to post in this forum. Incredible.

Who is saying that?

 

[CaliRdBrd]

That’s an awfully strong accusation. Exactly what has been said on this board that could be construed as “racist”?