UB President Satish Tripathi backed out of an end-of-the-year interview with The Spectrum after four months of attempts to reschedule.
Had Tripathi sat for the interview, The Spectrum would’ve asked him for his thoughts on the issues that affected students and faculty during the 2023-24 academic year.
A Spectrum editor reached out to UB spokesperson John Della Contrada in March to schedule an interview with UB’s president. After initially agreeing on a date in late April, Della Contrada asked to reschedule the interview for May 3. Della Contrada asked to reschedule again on April 29, but never suggested a new date.
Between the start of May and the end of July, The Spectrum asked Della Contrada about rescheduling the interview at least 12 times. Della Contrada either didn’t respond or informed The Spectrum that Tripathi was traveling. He did not respond to the suggestion of a Zoom interview.
Tripathi rarely spoke candidly about issues facing the university last year, more often addressing students in speeches and prepared statements. The Spectrum’s interview was intended to give readers an unscripted view of Tripathi’s decision-making and his vision for the university.
Della Contrada did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Tripathi has sat down with Spectrum editors for wide-ranging interviews at the end of prior academic years, including 2018, 2021 and 2022. He has also backed out of a Spectrum interview at least once before, in 2012.
What The Spectrum would have asked
The Spectrum planned on asking Tripathi questions about several topics, including:
- UB administrators’ decision to call in dozens of officers from outside police departments to respond to an attempted encampment by pro-Palestine protesters. University and outside police ultimately arrested 15 protesters, seven of whom were UB students. Charges were later dropped against most of the protesters. The decision to call in outside law enforcement has been condemned by the Faculty Senate, subsequent protesters and some alumni, among others. A UB spokesperson told The Spectrum that administrators chose to call in outside law enforcement “as a precaution.” Administrators announced in August that they were developing a new policy “to guide the use of outside law enforcement agencies to aid University Police.”
- The justification for fee increases that went into effect at the start of the 2024 fall semester. Students will pay 3.8% more in fees this semester than they did last semester as part of UB’s five-year fee plan.
- The state of the College of Arts and Sciences’ (CAS) budget after administrators implemented a hiring freeze for a “limited number” of teaching assistants, followed by a budgetary “pause” on the undergraduate portion of the college. Then-CAS Dean Robin Schulze, who resigned over the summer, announced last semester that the college was conducting a “comprehensive review” of the undergraduate enrollment plan and was working with a consulting firm.
- Whether the UB Foundation should divest from companies that support Israel and/or generally be more transparent about its investments. Pro-Palestine students and community members had demanded that the foundation do so during protests last semester. The UB Foundation has long resisted attempts to increase transparency of its operations. Tripathi is a member of the Foundation’s board, according to its website.
- What Tripathi plans on doing to regain faculty support after a plurality of College of Arts and Sciences faculty voted no confidence in Tripathi and Provost A. Scott Weber during a non-binding referendum. A majority of faculty voted that they had confidence in Schulze.
- UB’s future — or lack thereof — in the Mid-American Conference. Several events changed the trajectory of UB Athletics, including the men’s basketball team’s historic losing streak, the replacement of UB’s football coach and the sudden ouster of wrestling coach John Stutzman.
- What UB’s selection as a “home” for a statewide Artificial Intelligence initiative means for the future of the university.
Sol Hauser contributed to the reporting of this article.
Grant Ashley is the former editor in chief and can be reached at grant.ashley@ubspectrum.com
Grant Ashley is the editor in chief of The Spectrum. He's also reported for NPR, WBFO, WIVB and The Buffalo News. He enjoys taking long bike rides, baking with his parents’ ingredients and recreating Bob Ross paintings in crayon. He can be found on the platform formerly known as Twitter at @Grantrashley.
