To the editor:

The Journal-World editorial on Sunday, April 15, “KU leaders failing to lead,” did an excellent job of explaining why Chancellor Douglas Girod’s response to the Adidas college basketball recruiting scandal that is now washing up on the shores of Mount Oread has been “woefully” inadequate.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for Chancellor Girod to “show Adidas the door for embarrassing KU.” I say this because the Chancellor has no problem selling use of the KU brand name to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to operate a Confucius Institute for only hundreds of thousands of dollars per year instead of the millions per year coming from Adidas. Furthermore, he and the dean of the School of Education no less, even promote KU’s Confucius Institute partnership with the CCP by serving as chair and member respectively on the Confucius Institute Advisory Board. If these “KU leaders” can be this committed to working on behalf of an organization with a record of behavior as loathsome as that of the CCP, do you really expect them to be embarrassed by what you call Adidas “shenanigans?”

The Journal-World has expressed the hope that “KU leaders” will be moved by a desire to protect KU’s moral integrity and legacy when dealing with Adidas. Sadly, that would represent a drastic change from the way KU has dealt with the CCP up to this point. Could such a change happen? Don’t hold your breath waiting.