For a public school, our university is getting awfully private.
After a dimly lit presidential search spearheaded by billionaire Jeremy Jacobs, we now have a new president and the same old problems. While it is good that Tripathi is experienced and from UB, there are many questions that have been continually unanswered about his capacity for leadership and his vision of the future of UB.
Tripathi's tenure as Provost was not without some controversy. In 2008 he and former president Simpson were accused of gender bias in the hiring and tenure procedures. Tripathi's leadership during this trying time left much to be desired. Rather than address the issue with compassion, his response was cold and statistics based. His response attempted to address the issue of tenure only, and ignored the issue of hiring bias.
He has also remained conspicuously silent during recent outrage over facts exposed in the Artvoice article, "The Great UB Heist." It is obvious that he would not want to advocate for his own pay cut, but the allegations are serious, and a good leader should at least make some sort of statement to at least tell the student body that he understands its concerns.
Buck Quigley's article in Artvoice exposed the amount of compensation that officials at UB receive, and Tripathi is set to receive $172,701 over what Simpson received according to Buffalo News. A raise like this should not be automatic just for getting hired, it should be merit-based. The president should also not be paid by a private foundation on the side. This kind of secrecy and shady dealings is the exact opposite of what a public university should stand for.
An important aspect of the presidency is communication and public speaking, and Tripathi does not excel at this. Possibly due to his background in computer science, he seems awkward and is confusing in the way he speaks. Confidence is important in leadership, and he needs to work on gaining some.
Some have touted the fact that UB has attracted a more talented student body as one of Tripathi's accomplishments, yet it is entirely possible that the economic downturn has forced more of those students to look at public universities instead of more expensive private colleges.
While the secrecy of the presidential search was not directly Tripathi's fault, he has stated his approval of the search process. This is somewhat unnerving because it indicates another commitment against transparency within the university.
Tripathi is, however, qualified to do the job. He has an understanding of the inner workings of UB and the executive system, and has been in a leadership position for some time. His extensive work with international student programs gives him a worldview for UB.
He obviously wants to do good for UB, but his actions may be undermining some of the fundamental principles of public learning.
