Transparency absent at Ball State

“Nothing to see here, folks. Nothing to see. Let’s move along. Let’s move along, folks. Nothing to see here.”
That’s what the police officers in the movies always say when they’re trying to direct people away from something of interest.
It’s also a good fit for the message coming these days from the Ball State University board of trustees.
Earlier this week, pretty much out of the blue, BSU President Paul Ferguson announced he was taking a two-month sabbatical after which he was departing as the university’s president.
Faculty, students, alumni, and the larger Ball State community were stunned. Ferguson had been on the job less a year and a half. He was well-liked on campus and seemed on his way to hitting his stride as the successor to Jo Ann Gora.
Gora, who may have had the highest public profile of any Ball State administrator in history, was a tough act to follow. She raised the institution’s visibility and worked well in the halls of power, but her tenure was not without its share of friction.
Ferguson apparently ran into friction as well, though it’s not at all clear, thanks to the blanket of secrecy surrounding his departure, what actually transpired.
The best guess is that the Ferguson vision for Ball State’s future wasn’t in synch with the board’s vision. That happens sometimes.
Trouble is, guesses are the only thing the public and the university community have at this point. Onlookers have been told to “move along because there’s nothing to see here.”
Acting president Terry King told students and faculty Wednesday, “The future is bright at Ball State.”
He might as well have added, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” — J.R.