A cloud of mystery continues to shroud the firing of the Kansas University Alumni Association’s longtime director, but the organization’s leaders are hoping to keep their focus on the future.

“We need to stay focused on business as usual,” said Larry Borden, the association’s national chairman. “We’ve got a great staff, and we need to continue to grow membership and not be distracted by what went on this spring. It could be a distraction, but I think we need to continue to do a good job.”

Borden, whose term as chairman began July 1, is referring to the May firing of Fred Williams, who had been president since 1983. Members of the board of directors never gave reasons for Williams’ termination, but Borden said it wasn’t tied to any specific event.

“Times change — we all change,” said Borden, of Colorado Springs, Colo. “I’d say it was more an overall than an incident. … We examined the whole and made a decision.”

The board appointed longtime KU faculty member and administrator Del Shankel to serve as interim director until a national search is completed. Applications are being accepted through the end of August, and Borden said he’s expecting a large number of applications for a job that involves a variety of tasks.

“You’re wearing a lot of hats,” he said. “It takes a manager, somebody who knows finances, who takes care of staff problems. You have to meet and greet, work with the university and athletics, travel, sell the university and keep the alumni interested.”

The association is an independent affiliate of KU with 45,000 members.

Shankel came to KU in 1959 as an assistant professor of microbiology. He served as executive vice chancellor in the early 1990s and as interim chancellor in 1980-1981 and in 1994-1995. He also served stints as acting athletic director, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and department chair. He retired from the university in 1996.

Shankel, 77, said he wasn’t officially aware of the circumstances surrounding Williams’ firing.

“All I can say is when the board asked me to serve, they said it wouldn’t do me any good to know the reasons, that it wouldn’t help me at all in my job,” Shankel said. “I have some suppositions, but they’re purely some suppositions.”

Shankel said his goals included offering a six-month Alumni Association membership to new KU faculty members, in part as amends to faculty members who remain disgruntled that the association in 1999 closed its Learned Club, a popular eating locale for faculty members.

“Even though it’s been a few years, that still rankles with some people,” he said.

Shankel said he didn’t think the transition to new leadership would have a major impact on the Alumni Association’s staff or members.

“I think the transition is going very smoothly,” he said. “We have a very good staff on board there. They’re adapting well to the transition and are eager to move forward, put the past behind them and see what we can do for the good of the association and of the university.”