Reducing Auburn "Greed"

Public servants and their sycophants in various forms of modern media often mourn passings of fellow kleptocrats, frequently spamming us with whitewashed "Pravda on the Plains" histories, apropos for this "Lee County Beat" article to address. Well paid political prostitute columnists,

Matrix spin machine, Birmingham "Downtowner" cronies and politburo members will overwhelmingly shape the narrative most digested in Lee County.

Many were saddened by recent news of former Auburn University Provost Tim Boosinger's passing after a valiant battle with cancer. Invariably this loss was tragic for his family and loved ones, whom we certainly wish the best and pray former provost Boosinger found Repentance and the Grace of our Lord. As with the recent passing of President Carter, this is not an excuse for eulogies concerning public service which fail to provide honest histories.

Boosinger’s time as the Auburn University Provost (supposedly the chief academic officer began as an interim Provost at a time when being a candidate for the interim position meant one isn’t a candidate for the permanent position. This was made clear in the announcement to AU administrators, faculty and staff. In modern ‘This is Auburn’ fashion, Boosinger was installed as permanent Provost despite having accepted the interim position (a corrupt pattern which continues with the current interim-turned-permanent Auburn “Provost” Nathan). This shameful obtainment of his Provost position was immediately followed by acts from Boosinger which provided fodder for multiple scandalous headlines in major national publications - e.g., Wall rStreet Journal and Chronicle of Higher Education as well as Alabama Gazette. These

articles exposed how administration of academic curricula at AU was being distorted to keep athletes eligible. Boosinger and athletic officials such as AD Jay Jacobs (another master at trumping up RSA payouts: https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2018/03/01/opinion/the-auburn-greed/1301.html) were directly implicated in the articles, highlighting schemes to keep the troubled Public Administration program in the College of Liberal Arts open for an enormous ‘cluster’ of male African-American athletes. The following quote from Chronicle of Higher Education article entitled, “Unrivaled Power: Inside Auburn’s secret effort to advance an athlete-friendly curriculum” conveyed Boosinger’s attitude: “The provost assured the president that those other programs were in the works, and that he had met with Jay Jacobs, who was then the athletic director, “to discuss the new offerings that are in the pipeline.”

The distortion of academic decisions to facilitate athletic corruption cannot persist without a compliant faculty, requiring benefits for those who “play ball” and costs imposed on those who resist. The whistleblower on Boosinger’s scandal and the main Wall Street Journal and Chronicle of Higher Education source, Prof. Michael Stern, was vindicated by a federal court jury to have been subjected to multiple acts of retaliation by a university official hired by

Boosinger and who assisted him with the Public Administration scandal. This official has continued in AU’s employ with the RSA busting administrative pay and appointed to an Auburn City politburo position as one known to have no shame for being found guilty of this sort of malice and costly corruption.

Indeed, AU President Jay Gogue acted to protect Prof. Stern upon his initial retirement in 2017, but within weeks of President Gogue leaving office, Dr. Boosinger acted to reverse Gogue’s protections and return Prof. Stern to a position where further acts of retaliation would likely (and did in fact) occur. Issues with administering academic curricula to expressly benefit athletics and associated retaliation provide reason to question Boosinger’s legacy as AU Provost. There are unfortunately other serious and yet to be resolved issues associated with Boosinger’s time as Auburn’s Provost. I’ll not address how this pollutant went to my Alma Mater [Clemson] to suffer interrogatories w.r.t. why I didn’t provide Clemson colleagues these facts on this AU public servant before CU hired Boosinger.

Upon passing, former provost Boosinger was a major defendant in Prof. Joe Majdalani’s federal lawsuit concerning first amendment right violations and defamation. As a Lee County Court Watcher, it is indelible in my mind’s eye how smug this former provost was in the courtroom. It appeared Boosinger couldn’t imagine a jury being wise and just enough to even try to discipline

Auburn Greed. While provost, Boosinger’s office brought dismissal proceedings against highly distinguished Prof. Majdalani in relation to his voluntary associational speech with AIAA, the world’s largest aerospace technical society. Those outrageous dismissal proceedings were eventually ended by then President Steven “Crash” Leath with no discipline being imposed upon Prof. Majdalani. Subsequent legal action against Boosinger and others such as current

President Chris Roberts is currently ongoing in federal court. Some hope another just verdict against AU corruption will further reduce Auburn Greed and shepherd AU toward a less hostile, more productive workplace.

The ‘Auburn Mafia’ Felon Hubbard machine is still feared in Lee County so I couldn’t get anyone to go on record (even anonymously) about Vet School corruption decades ago. I’ll paraphrase the sentiments of some who would talk… Let’s be honest, Boosinger wasn’t some great football coach who refused any income more than AU’s top Professor; there were faculty who could earn much more than Boosinger in the real world that worked at AU for $20/yr. because they wanted lower costs for students and taxpayers, not to aid and abet more pay to Boosinger types and malicious administrators he rewarded.

The Lafayette Sun was the media outlet closest to Auburn that specifically reported on the malice Boosinger enabled (wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars to discipline in federal court) recently reposted in the East Alabama Examiner [https://www.eaexaminer.com/post/lafayette-sun-auburn-professor-wins-first-amendment-lawsuit] reaffirming ongoing fears of retribution on the Plains of Dixie. Considering legacies of long-time public servants at times of this sort, some found illustration of an administrator responsible for the modern ‘This is Auburn’ corruption entrenched under administrators more

interested in themselves and what they could extract from this once noble institution enshrined in the Auburn Creed. What some cited to cement this legacy is how an administrator uses their discretion - i.e., how small righteous stands can amplify and keep AU on the path set forth by George Petrie, a professor and administrator at AU for 53 years better known as author of The Auburn Creed. Sadly, we’ve witnessed far too many AU administrators (from the lowest accountant to the Board of Trustees) show how poor discretion amplified the corrupt, cancerous growth at AU.

While there assuredly exists positive elements related to Boosinger’s public “service” as AU’s Provost (such as adopting a more revenue-centered budget model), it is nonetheless important to keep in mind the very serious and negative elements of that public service legacy when digesting the various eulogies sure to circulate. I have little doubt our Lee County ‘Pravda on the Plains’ media will offer a glowing pro-government propaganda narrative, failing to provide facts on this public servant’s corruption in Lee County. Perhaps students and taxpayers may enjoy a little less Auburn Greed and witness return of some of the righteous outcomes espoused in the Auburn Creed… Deo Volente.

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.