To the editor:

I am extremely disappointed in the opinion piece on Provost David Shulenburger’s resignation (Saturday Column, Oct. 1).

As others have already pointed out, the piece relied strictly on speculation and unnamed sources. It did a tremendous disservice to a man who has worked so hard to help improve Kansas University, and it did perhaps an even larger disservice to the credibility of your publication.

One thing the column did get right is that Provost Shulenburger could not have known what he was signing up for when he first accepted the job. He couldn’t have imagined how difficult it would be to recruit top faculty to a state that questions the validity of evolution; he couldn’t have foreseen the challenges of dealing with a state Legislature that continually seeks to cut funding for higher education. Rather than focus on these legitimate concerns, the author chose to pursue a lame attempt at creative writing, even going so far as to try and read the mind of Chancellor Hemenway.

Rather than wasting his time – and ours – on this silly exercise, the writer would have been wise to acknowledge that Provost Shulenburger helped oversee some incredible advancements at KU, including unprecedented levels of research expenditures and higher minority student enrollment – all while facing the incredible challenges I mentioned earlier.

David Shulenburger deserves better treatment, and readers of the Lawrence Journal-World deserve better journalism.

Ranjit Arab,

Lawrence