Texas Tech Administrators Brush Aside Outcry Over Gonzales Hiring, Defend $100,000 Salary
Texas Tech Administrators Brush Aside Outcry Over Gonzales Hiring, Defend $100,000 Salary
Last week, Texas Tech announced that it had offered former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales a position to teach political science during the upcoming fall semester. Gonzales will be a visiting professor leading a course on “contemporary issues in the executive branch” and focusing on “recruiting and retaining first generation and under-represented students.”
Reactions from angry students and alumni were swift. Two Facebook groups with several hundred members total have even popped up:
The Daily Toreador, the student newspaper, wrote an editorial saying that Gonzales was Texas Tech’s worst hire since controversial coach Bob Knight. The editors noted that while students may be excited to take a class from such a notorious figure, “when he’s talking about the right thing to do…remember his lasting image in American politics“:
By leaving Capitol Hill in disgrace, Gonzales did not fulfill his duty as attorney general, and he did not reach his full potential as a role model for minorities.
So why hire him?
This trumps hiring a fiery coach from Indiana known for tossing a chair across a basketball court. Gonzales is notoriously accused of much more serious problems.
One point of contention is the former attorney general’s salary. Gonzales, a visiting professor, will be earning $100,000 for the year — which is approximately what full professors make — in addition to any speaking and mediation fees he does for outside work. Tech Provost Bob Smith has defended the pay, saying that it’s appropriate for someone “with a national presence and a long list of accomplishments.” Texas Tech alumni and high school government teacher David Ring said that making $100,000 “to teach one section of no more than 15 students…doesn’t seem like a fare shake to those professors at the school who, I don’t know, haven’t perjured themselves in front of the U.S. Congress.”
One Texas Tech faculty member said that administrators at the school don’t value a liberal arts education. She noted that at a Texas legislative hearing last year, Chancellor Kent Hance — who considers Gonzales a “good friend” — said that “research on ‘the best part of Shakespeare’s play’ isn’t on the same level as the research his university is conducting for the Defense Department.”
Hance is largely ignoring the criticism. He said that he received a “substantial number” of supportive e-mails about the hire, and just nine critical ones. He added that “he wasn’t dwelling on the negative ones because they didn’t come from loyal university donors.”
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Getting $100k to teach 15 students, yup that seems like a great way to educate our kids on things like ethics.
Maybe they could hire Charlie to teach psychology.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:42 amWhen asked why anyone would pay him $100,000, Gonzales replied, “I don’t know.”
July 14th, 2009 at 10:43 amWhat if he gave a class and nobody came? I might sign up for his class, but I’d probably get an “F” for calling him a treasonous POS to his face the first time roll was called.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:46 amHance is largely ignoring the criticism. He said that he received a “substantial number” of supportive e-mails about the hire, and just nine critical ones. He added that “he wasn’t dwelling on the negative ones because they didn’t come from loyal university donors.”
Because nothing says “to hell with ethics” like a big wad of cash.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:46 amSo Hance hired a “good friend” who is also a liar, torture-enabler, and perjurer – and at a salary much higher than would be the norm. Sounds as though Hance needs to have an ethics investigation started about this suspicious hire.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:46 amAsk who donated the $$$$ to funnel to Gonzo.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:47 amThis is what happens when political appointees beholden to the repiggies take over the university system. This is the work of the holy rollers.
Don’t kid yourselves, folks. The Evangelicals are hell-bent on inflicting a theocracy run by them on this nation.
They have tossed out the “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” stuff.
They are waving the Sword of Righteousness, and they are just aching to use it.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:48 amWonder how many programs they’re going to cut in order to pay for this garbage.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:48 amIt’s hard to feel sorry for the hard times universities are having when they allocate their funds in this wasteful of a manner.
tony and lido
Will their story change when gonzo is caught in Holders investigation?
July 14th, 2009 at 10:49 amThe ‘best part’ of Shekespeare’s play??? Literary scholarship and knowledge of law, they’re pretty much interchangeable, right?
July 14th, 2009 at 10:50 amHow do these people manage to say such phenominally Stupid stuff and not have their heads explode? As I’ve said before, stupidity is superior to the speed of light. This is because stupidity, unlike the speed of light, has No Limits.
I thought Alberto was heading up Cheney’s death squad in Mexico.
Why didn’t SMU, the site of the Bush Liebrary, hire him? He could have given guided tours & explain how important upholding the rule of law was to the Bush cabal.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:50 amHance is of course the guy who beat Little George Bush in his 1978 House race, but three decades later, the two of them and Gonzo are all good ol’ boys together. Give Texas back to Mexico, I say . . .
July 14th, 2009 at 10:50 amSo, as long as the criticisms didn’t come from the people who pony up the cash, they don’t warrant attention. Typical.
PEACE
July 14th, 2009 at 10:51 amAny university that would hire a known war criminal ought to have its accreditation taken away.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:52 amWow, maybe this means that the myth of the liberal universities is going to go the way of the myth of the liberal media…
It’s all about money, ethics and politics be damned…
July 14th, 2009 at 10:52 amraynman says:
Wow, maybe this means that the myth of the liberal universities is going to go the way of the myth of the liberal media…
Keep in mind this is Texas. Liberal universities are in the USA.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:54 amEvidence of this crusade is apparent in the donations to Sarah Palin’s PAC. She has collected over $200,000 since resigning as governor. The Christo-fascists have circled their wagons. We have to make sure this is their last stand.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:55 amI thought that in order to be an accomplished person, you had to have a positive impact on those around you.
Then again, I am no rightwinger -so when I think of someone with “national presence” and a “long list of accomplishments”, war criminals and their enablers don’t exactly come to my mind…
July 14th, 2009 at 10:55 amThe most reprehensible part of this business is that people like Gonzo, Yoo, Addington and others are accepting these positions. There is not a single iota of regret, remorse, responsibility or shame in any of them.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:56 amAm I the only one who suspects that $100k came from Pappy Bush and his croneys, along with a substantial “bonus” donation to the university, as hush money to keep Gonzo from singing?
PEACE
July 14th, 2009 at 10:56 amHow can someone who claimed “I can’t recall remembering” put together a cohesive course outline?
PEACE
July 14th, 2009 at 10:58 amHance said “he wasn’t dwelling on the negative ones because they didn’t come from loyal university donors.”
Translation: I’m all for prostituting my university if the money is good…
July 14th, 2009 at 10:59 amSpencer’s Mom, the Bush brownnoses and toadies may have coughed up the dough, but not the Bushes!
That Bush clan is just a bunch of government welfare queens who don’t spend a dime for anything, whether it’s housing, health care, travel, dining out, security.
The government has picked up the tab for that bunch of scammers for the past 40 years.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:00 amI can understand the dumbass rednecks in Lubbock hiring Alberto “I don’t recall” Gonzales. The one I still can’t fathom is Berkeley hiring John “The Inquisitor” Yoo.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:00 amThe class is easy. If you can say any combination of “I don’t know” and “I don’t recall” 72 times with a straight face, you pass.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:06 amDirty Hippie says:
What if he gave a class and nobody came? I might sign up for his class, but I’d probably get an “F” for calling him a treasonous POS to his face the first time roll was called.
Heh. I had the same thought. I’d take the class and pay for it just to have the opportunity to do so.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:09 amThis reeks of the good ole boy network making some donations, a few phone calls and then seeking employment for the otherwise unemployable.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:11 amIf I were Gonzo, I would be to embarassed to show my face in public let alone teach a class in political science of all things.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:11 amspencers mom says:
Am I the only one who suspects that $100k came from Pappy Bush and his croneys, along with a substantial “bonus” donation to the university, as hush money to keep Gonzo from singing?
Naw. The Bushes cut him loose. He was just their useful idiot. They couldn’t give a hoot about ol’ Al now, or else he would have had a cushy position somewhere else already.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:12 amWhat kind of university would hire Gonzales? Isn’t there anyone else who is better qualified?? Are these people mad? I guess only in Texas they can get away with this crap.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:13 amteaching a “special topics” course on contemporary issues in the executive branch
I can just see him now – on the first day of class he’ll make a joke about how his three favorite words are, “I don’t recall” and then laugh and say, “But seriously, first rule, admit nothing! That’s today’s lesson.”.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:14 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
I would enroll in his class just for the opportunity to throw a shoe at him.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:16 amTech Provost Bob Smith has defended the pay, saying that it’s appropriate for someone “with a national presence and a long list of accomplishments.”
And which part of that is supposed to apply to Speedy Gonzales ?
July 14th, 2009 at 11:17 amThese phucken repugs just get “bizarre” by the day. For crying out loud how can a disgrace attorney be worth $100,000, please this is nothing more than a Bush payback such bullshyt? I wonder why Bush didn’t recommend him for SMU,I can just smell Bush all over this, eh.
BTW Sotomayer gave an impressing answer to Kohl when she stated that she doesn’t prejudge cases. But Sessions is an a$$hole.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:20 amI can just see him now – on the first day of class he’ll make a joke about how his three favorite words are, “I don’t recall” and then laugh and say, “But seriously, first rule, admit nothing! That’s today’s lesson.”.
GOP SOP. Deny, deny, deny and demand proof.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:21 amNow I wish I had been a contributor to Texas Tech of an embarrassingly huge endowment each year…
…so I could stop it based on this joke of a hiring decision.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:26 amI just want the angry students to protest and the alumni especially to withdrawal their contributions to TT endowment.
Wonder how Rice is making out at Stanford University? Don’t hear much from these days, well at least not yet.
Ok gotta go their getting ready to start back with her hearings.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:28 am.
Are we sure we want Gonzo teaching students about “contemporary issues in the executive branch”. I mean, will he even “recall” his stint?
.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:30 amI wonder if “I can’t recall” will be an acceptable answer by students for the questions on his exams.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:33 amThis comment came from the USNews online article on this:
In Mr. Gonzales’ testimony to Congress he appeared either totally incompetent or fully in contempt of the legislative branch.
Oh, that’s who I want teaching my children.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:35 amCan they rename themselves to the Gaggies?
July 14th, 2009 at 11:35 amDon’t y’all paint Texas with such a broad brush. The University of Texas is a fine school that happens to be located in Texas. It’s in Austin. Austin is a liberal town. Austin is, last I looked, the capital of Texas.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:35 am…and Pepperdine hired Ken Starr…they take care of their own…
July 14th, 2009 at 11:36 amHe can teach ” Surviving in Federal Prison”, in about 20 years.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:51 amClearly the most important consideration is whether your new hire offends the big university donors. It sounds like Gonzales has found his place.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:54 amThere really has to be something in the water in Texas. It is the most backwards state in the Union. This is right up there with Cal Berkeley hiring John Yoo to teach.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pmHance saved the best for last where he acknowledged that support did “come from loyal university donors.” I guess that is what a little Texas oil money can do for you. Money corrupts everything and Texas Tech could care less.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pmWhat needs to happen in T-Tech land is this: Students protest, faculty protest, and alumni protest by withholding contributions to this circus.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:24 pmUncle Ho says:
“Any university that would hire a known war criminal ought to have its accreditation taken away.”
My apologies for reposting your work Uncle Ho. But this seemed to really hit the mark.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:26 pmNot to mention the ethics that Gonzo will bring into the faculty.
Now they will have an internal lawyer telling them that unethical is ethical and how to do it.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:46 pmCriminals that should be in jail cleaning toilets receive $100000 in Texas.
Screw secession, let’s just kick Texas out of the United States.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:11 pmShouldn’t he be dontating his salary to his victims?
July 14th, 2009 at 1:16 pmHuge waste of money by Texas Tech. *sigh*
July 14th, 2009 at 2:11 pmRich H says:
No offense taken.
July 14th, 2009 at 2:13 pmBet Gonzo doesn’t spend much time in the teacher’s lounge.
July 14th, 2009 at 2:56 pmLet us hope the days of student demonstrations are not over. It would be gratifying if he were unable to lecture because of demonstrations. And, even better, no one enrolls for the class.
July 14th, 2009 at 3:03 pmMs. Terkel, your excerpt from The Daily Toreador’s editorial states that the hiring of Gonzales “trumps hiring a fiery coach from Indiana…” In other words the campus paper is asserting that his hiring is even worse than that of Bob Knight and not the worst since as you characterized.
Provost Smith’s claim that Gonzales’ “long list of accomplishments” justifies his $100k salary doesn’t reconcile very well with his persistent unemployment since leaving the DoJ in 2007. It could be argued, however, that $100k is a bargain for a professor who can impart wisdom to his students, from personal experience, on how to lie to Congress and evade incarceration.
July 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pmThis is Texas for god’s sake! Home of the stupid. It is like trying to get Kansas to stop thinking of creationism as a science. If a place like UC Berkley can hire a man like Yoo, then Texas can hire a dunderhead like Gonzales. Let’s hope he does not teach ethics. Although if this school had any, he would not have been hired.
If a better university like Berkley can hire John Yoo with no student uprisings, then nothing will happen in Texas. Remember their governor is Rick Perry. And remember their desire to break from the US. And incidentally, we should let them. This is the new United States. Anyone and anything is for sale including and especially ethics. Ethics are a thing of the past. Company’s, schools and people no longer have them. Let’s hope he is indicted one day and has to give up his freedom for a cell.
July 14th, 2009 at 6:06 pmThis is the same school that had Bob Knight and son on the payroll at the same time.
Texas Tech craves attention. It is essentially the Jan Brady of the Texas universities.
At least the University of North Texas doesn’t sellout when it comes to slapping on the clown makeup in the panhandle like Tech does.
July 14th, 2009 at 7:10 pmWouldn’t calling him an expert in poli sci basically amount to admitting that he politicized the DoJ? The AG position isn’t normally considered “political” experience.
July 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pmMr. Gonzales will lecture at Tech on his area of expertise, Engineering Flow Calculations in Waterboarding.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/professor-gonzales/
July 15th, 2009 at 1:46 amNo wonder the Texas educational system is 48th in the country….they seem to have such high standards for their educators….breathing and Rethuglican. With Alberto teaching, maybe they can aspire to 49th!
July 15th, 2009 at 4:04 amSorry but someone like gonzales does not have the credentials to teach or warrant that kind of salary. Leave it to Texas to hire a lying loser to teach our kids……….shame on them
July 15th, 2009 at 12:38 pm