The University of Central Arkansas (UCA), once a proud institution that was noted for training very competent teachers and others, has entered a new phase of notoriety. And it’s not that UCA invented “Stupid Executive Decision Making”, but it appears that they are offering some type of advanced degree in its pursuit.
For those of you that may have short memories, this is the same university that was duped by one Lou Hardin, then their president, out of several hundred thousand dollars via forgery and fraud; I guess those are the legal definitions. Seems he had a gambling problem and honored his gambling losses more, well, more than his own honor, reputation, responsibilities, family, God, state, country, etc.; you get the idea. So he forged some signatures of folks to a letter extolling his own worth and endorsing immediate payment to him of a couple hundred grand. “He’s in the jail house now!”
Next the UCA finds themselves the proud owners of a 1930s President’s Mansion in which they’ve sunk $800,000.00 in renovations over the past few years only to have the current resident, President Allen Meadors, move out and apparently allege that it is unfit for proper entertainment of important people, you know “High Moguls” and “Mucket-T-Mucks”. So UCA must now decide if they wish to sink another small fortune into this “hallowed house of history” or buy a new mansion for President Meadors, or just give him $1,500.00 per month housing allowance.
Perhaps that it was to discuss this very issue that prompted the UCA Board of Trustees to sneak off to the Red Apple Inn and Country Club in Heber Springs for a “retreat”. It only cost UCA $3,684.00 for this “Trustee Tryst”. It is unknown at this time what, if anything, they discussed or decided. Some good news for the Trustees is that they are also eligible to collect “mileage” for their retreat trip.
One would have thought that at an institution with so many modern facilities, excepting President Meadors’ mansion, the Trustees might have located a conference room, auditorium, library study, private dining room, executive meeting room or something like that where these erstwhile “Representatives of the Taxpayers” could have gathered and saved the UCA $3,684.00. But what the heck, between the couple of hundred grand to Lou Hardin, the mounting millions at “Meadors Mansion”, this is “chump change”.
One does wonder why these gentlemen are titled “Trustees”. Shirley has told me quite emphatically that she wouldn’t “Trust” these “Trustees” to boil water
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