Everyone’s favorite adage, “It’s not what you know but whom,” prevails again at OSU.
University President Burns Hargis begins his reign today, three months earlier than planned, thanks to the Oklahoma legislators who amended state law to put him in office sooner.
But proof that the Good Ol’ Boy Network is alive doesn’t stop there.
At the request of Hargis, the OSU regents have hired Gary Clark to be vice president for university relations, a position Hargis created.
The vice president “reports directly to the president” and “serves as the senior adviser to the president.”
He also “acts as a liaison with the OSU Foundation, Alumni Association and other external associations,” according to the job description that the board approved Friday.
Clark will be paid $225,000 a year, more than any other vice president on campus.
A quick Google search reveals some of Clark’s credentials.
He is the vice president of the OSU Foundation and served on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges and was chairman from 1997-98.
Curiously, he was part of the presidential search committee that unanimously recommended Hargis be hired.
Granted, Clark might have other impressive résumé items that make him a strong candidate for the job, but these facts raise some questions.
Our first thought: Clark helped hire Hargis and now Hargis is promoting Clark? It must be nice to have friends in high places.
Our second thought: Shouldn’t the vice president of the OSU Foundation be in a good position to serve as a liaison between the president and the foundation?
Why was the job change needed?
Call us optimistic, but we thought that a president whose hiring process earned so much criticism for being too secretive would bend over backward to ensure that his presidency would not be marred with the same suspicions.
Optimistic, indeed.
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