Compared to South Carolina, Tennessee politics aren’t that bad. However, the announcement of Bruce Pearl, head basketball coach for the University of Tennessee, endorsing Bill Haslam for governor seems inappropriate at best.

The head basketball coach endorsing a candidate from the family that collectively serves as single biggest donor in the history of the University certainly has the appearance of quid pro quo. I’m in no way accusing wrong-doing here, but it looks suspicious.

Pearl is an extremely popular figure, especially in East Tennessee. Since arriving at UT in 2005, he’s worked a miracle with our men’s basketball team. Prior to his tenure, men’s basketball was viewed as hopeless. In order for Bill Haslam to win the nomination, his support is going to have to turn out in East Tennessee. It’s also the only part of the state where he has high name ID.

The Haslam family’s relationship to the University is too close for one of its high-profile leaders to make an endorsement. This should be seriously questioned. However, the Knoxville media has a long-history of looking the other way when UT does something wrong.

For those outside of Knoxville, the Haslam family essentially runs everything in the area. They own Pilot Travel Centers, the chain of gas stations and convenience stores in the Southeast. Given their vast oil fortune, they’ve made considerable philanthropic donations in the Knoxville area. By all accounts, the family is very generous and philanthropic. Close friends of mine have worked for Pilot and attest that it is a good, family company.

When I volunteered or interned for various nonprofits in college, the general attitude was not to do anything that upset Daddy Haslam, as James Haslam, II is known. The same friends, who were former Pilot employees, also quickly jumped on the Bill Haslam for Governor bandwagon, explaining that the company wouldn’t look fondly on employees supporting another candidate.

The Haslam family is also very Republican. Bill Haslam is currently mayor of Knoxville and is running against Congressman Zach Wamp.

My dislike of self-funding candidates is noted here, and Bill Haslam is about as self-funded as you can get.

Why is it questionable that Pearl endorsed Bill Haslam?

The Haslam family is the single largest donor in  University of Tennessee history. In recent years (I believe it was 2007), they gave an unprecedented $32.5 million to the University with 30% going directly to the athletic department. Since Haslam is the only gubernatorial candidate who refuses to release his tax records, this endorsement appears questionable.

The overall gifts of the Haslam family can be tracked, but since Bill Haslam won’t release his financial records, there is no way of proving that this endorsement is not in return for donations. The donations that are on the record paint a very cozy picture between the Haslams and the UT Athletic Department and the larger University system.

Daddy Haslam served as a Trustee of the University of Tennessee system for decades. He is also the chairman of executive committee for the UT Athletics Board, the body that directly oversees Coach Pearl. University athletic departments are notoriously secretive about donations, so it is impossible to know exactly who and how much in the Haslam family has contributed over the years.

According to current records, Daddy Haslam and his son, James A. “Jimmy” Haslam III (president of Pilot) are members of the Torchbearer Society, the elite group of donors who have given more than $10 million. Two family-operated foundations also contribute to the University: the Haslam Family Foundation, which is listed as donating between $5 million and $10 million, and the Haslam 3  Foundation, which gave between $100,000-$500,000. Jimmy Haslam and his wife, Dee, also established the Haslam Scholars program.

Per their IRS 990s, Bill Haslam is a director of the Haslam Family Foundation. In2008(the latest year a 990 is available), the Haslam Family Foundation gave the University nearly $1.2 million. As a director of the foundation, he would have signed off on that contribution.

Shouldn’t it raise eyebrows when Bruce Pearl, a direct beneficiary of this family through his job at the University, endorses one of the sons? Remember that enormous gift of $32.5 milion? The chunk of change from Daddy Haslam alone gave $9.2 million to the athletic department, which in turn pays Bruce Pearl’s salary of $2.4 million each year.

It could be argued that all of this is Daddy Haslam and brother Jimmy. Knoxville is a smaller city. Prominent people always know each other. There is not necessarily quid pro quo in this situation.

However, Bill Haslam hasn’t operated a transparent campaign. He should release his tax records, which contain a paper trail of his charitable giving. If there was no wrong-doing, they would clearly exonerate him from any misgivings or inappropriate endorsements earned through high dollar donations to the University.

The UT Athletic Department also doesn’t have the best reputation. The football program is currently under investigation from the NCAA for recruiting violations. Like most major athletic universities, rumors have always churned about less-than-honorable activities.

Given Haslam’s reluctance to run a transparent campaign and a long history of questionable actions by the University of Tennessee Athletic Department, shouldn’t this endorsement be questioned?

If you’re in Knoxville tomorrow, stop by the Al Gore protest and lend your support to the right to question climate change.

CFACT and a few grassroots groups have teamed up to have a great event. In the morning from 8-11:30 a.m., they will protest outside of Thompson-Boling Arena to during the commencement event. See the Facebook invitation for more information.

TONIGHT, the filmmakers behind Not Evil, Just Wrong will be in town with a screening of their documentary at the World’s Fair Park Amphitheater. For more details, look at the Facebook invite.

From the CFACT website:

First, on Thursday, May 13th at 7 PM CFACT will host “Climate: The Counter Consensus” at the Tennessee Amphitheater in the World’s Fair Park.   The event will feature Lord Christopher Monckton who last weeked testified before Congress on global warming, Ann and Phelim McElhinney, producers of the documentary ‘Not Evil, Just Wrong’ which debunks Gore’s film “An Incovenient Truth” and others.

I heard Lord Monckton speak at the Tax Day Rally in DC. Don’t miss this opportunity if you’re in the Knoxville area.

Several months ago, I wrote several posts about the University of Tennessee’s announcement to grant Al Gore an honorary degree. I haven’t forgotten about this and have maintained my pledge to never give the UT system another dime.

Over the weekend, I was reminded that my friend and former colleague, Lindsay Souza, will be in Knoxville to organize a protest against Al Gore. Her note is below. If you are interested in attending, please contact Lindsay directly. Fortunately for the University, I’m throwing a wedding shower that day, so I can’t travel to Tennessee for graduation.

****************************************

Hello,

My name is Lindsay Souza and I am a Campus Services Coordinator with the Leadership Institute. I’m looking to get in touch with students at UT that are angry Al Gore will be speaking on their campus and are interested in putting a protest together. I plan on being on campus the week of graduation and would be more than willing to organize a meeting for everyone that is interested. Please contact me if you’re interested.

In Liberty,

Lindsay

lsouza@campusreform.org

Offline, I’ve gotten a lot of criticism for writing about this Al Gore situation at UT. In the long-run, I fully agree with all of you that this doesn’t matter. As I’ve said numerous times, honorary degrees are publicity stunts. But I’m truly bothered by what UT is doing. Good news! You’ll get a break. I’m going back to  Chattanooga this weekend for a wedding, so I doubt that I’ll have time to write.

When I first heard about this ridiculous decision to politicize UT’s commencement, I instantly thought of the promotional campaign that UT was running my senior year of high school. It’s one of the reasons I originally looked at the University. Despite growing up in Chattanooga, I had never felt a desire to become a Volunteer.

Coming off of the 1998 National Championship, UT ran a campaign that said, The University of Tennessee/2 Nobel Laureates/7 Rhodes Scholars/6 Pulitzer Prizes/10 Astronauts. We also play a little football.” I remember landing at the airport in Nashville after my senior trip to LA in 2000 and seeing the ad. For the first time, I got really excited about college. Since I attended an uber-Baptist high school, every teacher clearly expressed his/her disappointment in me for not choosing a Christian college, and my parents had their own qualms about sending me to such a big school.

There was a poster that accompanied it, but I can’t find a graphic of it. Once upon a time, I had a copy, but it got destroyed in one of my many moves. The poster had the slogan printed on an awesome photo of Neyland Stadium. It captured UT perfectly. Great football (at the time) and athletics combined with strong academics. That poster made me realize that there was more to UT than just Peyton Manning and Jeff Hall. (My best friend and I had  bit of a crush on Jeff Hall in high school.)

What happened to recognizing those people? I realize that not all of them are probably alive. In fact, it’s sad that I don’t really know who any of those people are. The 10 astronauts are a lot cooler than Al Gore, but that’s a personal preference.

This morning, I was greeted by an email alerting me to the fact that the Drudge Report had linked to a Knoxville News Sentinel story on what I’m naming DegreeGate. A KNS poll is overwhelmingly against it.

Now, I know that web polls are hardly scientific, but 96% against the decision should be telling. Then Red State picked up on the story.

Oh UT, why? Why did you willingly walk into another controversy on the heels of the Kiffin scandal? I also appreciate the smug column from KNS telling people like me to, “Get over it.” Well, KNS, I refuse to get over it. I’m outraged at the actions of my alma mater, and I plan on making as much noise about it as possible. I’d also like to explain a thing or two to editor who wrote this paragraph:

Some objectors have pointed specifically to Gore’s involvement in the global-warming debate, suggesting that man-made climate change has been disproven by the “Climategate” e-mails. That’s far from true. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander is among those who still say climate change must be addressed, and he certainly shouldn’t be disqualified from some future honorary degree. In fact, he would be an excellent choice.

You see Climategate is a big deal. The East Anglia CRU emails and subsequent stories prove that the data that created the infamous “hockey stick” graph is completely flawed. Al Gore used the hockey stick graph in his documentary. The same documentary for which he won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize, and the main reasons that the administration cites in giving him this degree.

Essentially, KNS is defending the decision by the University to award a man who has knowingly spread misleading information and refuses to acknowledge that. That is academic fraud, and it is shameful that my alma mater, a research institution, is willing to be complicit in what could be the biggest scandal of the 21st century.

The Facebook page has 1,100 people less than one week after it was started. Drudge has linked to the story. Red State is covering it. Doesn’t the University realize that it’s only going to get worse the closer we get to graduation? People are only just now learning about it.

Many have argued that Gore deserves this as a public figure. Why do universities award honorary degrees? Essentially, they’re PR stunts and a nice recognition to prominent figures.

However, what happens when the university awards a degree to a controversial and polarizing figure? Well, alumni like me get ticked off and withhold fundraising dollars. The university needs to weigh the opportunity costs of recognizing a political figure or threatening their donation base.

Now, if Vice President Gore would come clean and say that he apologizes for fraudulently using bad data, and that we need to put more open-minded resources towards the climate change debate, I’d be ok with UT’s decision. Until then, I’m going to be an unhappy and very vocal alumna.

In UT’s defense, I just got off the phone with Megan Smith in the Chancellor’s office. She was very nice and reacted the way all PR people are supposed to. I’ve been on her end of the phone before and feel for what she’s either going through or likely to go through. However, UT made a huge mistake here, and it keeps getting worse.

A number of people that I respect have attacked me for making this “political.” It’s not that at all, and I’m offended that friends are trying to silence me. I deeply care about my alma mater, and my blood runs orange. It always will. My four years at UT were amazing, and my education was outstanding. However, as the leader in the climate change debate, Al Gore is suspect when the science ends up being questionable. As I said in my original post, if Climate Gate is remedied or climate change proven, give Al Gore every prize you want.

My main concern is with the University. If Climategate keeps getting worse, Gore’s reputation is going to be incredibly tarnished. Any organization that recognizes him for his work on this issue will look foolish. As a leading research institute, UT has an obligation to only support legitimate and honest research. Why doesn’t UT wait and see how Climategate plays out?

This is not a personal vendetta or a political fight. This is questioning why my alma mater is partnering with a promoter of bad science. Ultimately, my right to freely express my opinion and protest the actions of my alma mater should be respected. Nothing less than that is acceptable.

It’s official. The University of Tennessee will grant an honorary degree to Al Gore.

Per UT’s web site:

Former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore will be honored by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with only the third honorary degree granted by the campus. The degree was approved by the UT Board of Trustees at their meeting today.

Why UT? Why? There are many other examples of non-controversial Tennesseans who should be honored before Gore. Why is the University willingly walking into the controversy surrounding the former vice president and Climategate? The Trustees really want to honor a man who could possibly be questioned before Congress for promoting inaccurate information?

I’m truly bothered by the fact that this degree comes AFTER Gore endowed a professorship at UT. In my four years at the university from 2000-2004, there was absolutely nothing from the Gore family on campus. It really looks as though the University is trying to cash in on the crisis that Gore manufactured and then capitalized on through ventures like “carbon off-sets.” According to the press release:

Gore’s appreciation and personal interest in the institution of higher education is apparent as he serves as faculty member/visiting professor at various institutions across the country. A UT Knoxville faculty member holds the Nancy Gore Hunger Chair for Excellence in Environmental Studies, endowed by Gore to honor his late sister. Gore also is a distinguished member of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy’s board of directors and honorary co-chair of the Tennessee 4-H Club Foundation Inc. with UT Extension.

That’s a new endowment. The Center for Public Policy is also a new program at UT that opened up in 2004 or 2005. Until the last five years, the Gore family has had zilch to do with the UT system. I remember it was something of a slap in the face when Gore opted to teach at MTSU shortly after he lost the 2000 election. I was sophomore or junior in Knoxville at the time. The absence of Gore’s involvement at UT sharply contrasts with the long history that Howard Baker has with the University and the legacy of service and commitment that Dolly Parton has shown East Tennessee. Gore’s connection with the UT system is tenuous at best.

I’m ashamed to be a Vol today. UT has a ripe history of stepping into PR disasters with back-to-back embarrassments of presidents, arrests of athletes, and a shifty football coach. Through all the scandals of the UT system, I’ve always cared about my alma mater. Now, it appears that the Board of Trustees are selling out the University to gain PC points and a pile of cash.

Good job, UT. You may win a few points with the far-left and extreme environmentalists, but you proceeded to tick off a lot of alumni.

Upset? Call the University at 865-974-3265 or email Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek at chancellor@utk.edu or join the Facebook page.

As a University of Tennessee alumna and proud Volunteer, I have never been more disappointed in my University.

The UT Board of Regents wants to award Former Vice President Al Gore an honorary doctorate. They’re voting on it it today. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel:

The proposal was approved by the UT Board of Trustees Academic Affairs and Student Success Committee, but the proposal will go before the full board for final approval this afternoon. Trustees are on the UT Martin campus for their winter board meeting.

As a donor to the UT system, I pledge to NEVER give my alma mater another dime if this happens.

If you are just as outraged as me, call the Chancellor’s office at 865-974-3265. Tell the administration and the Trustees that this is not acceptable. Also join the Facebook Page.

Why does UT want to recognize someone who is currently in the spotlight for pushing questionable science? Regardless of how you feel about Climate Change, should you give such a high honor to someone who is possibly a flake? Al Gore should not be honored by the University. It’s even more sketchy since he endowed the department chair of the degree he would be getting. Can anyone pay to play to get an honorary degree?

Look at the situation.

The now infamous hockey stick graph that he used in an Inconvenient Truth has been debunked.

The IPCC is distancing themselves from Climate Change science.

Senator Inhofe is threatening to haul Gore before the Senate for a hearing on Climate Change.

There are calls for Al Gore to return his Nobel Prize, which is one of the reasons the UT Trustees want to recognize him. Per the KNS article:

Board vice chairman Jim Murphy encouraged trustees not to view the honorary degree as an endorsement of Gore’s advocacy areas or political beliefs but as a way to recognize Gore as an accomplished Tennessean who has received national acclaim. By shying away from awarding honorary degrees to people who are deemed too controversial, “more people would be disqualified from receiving honorary degrees,” Murphy said.

“Not many Tennesseans have received the Nobel Prize – that alone distinguishes Al Gore from many other folks,” Murphy said. “The area of his current advocacy is an area UT and Oak Ridge National Lab have a significant area of expertise, and it’s an area we need to promote that area across the globe. Nothing will do that more than (presenting the honorary degree to Gore).”

This can only bring disgrace and ridicule to the University of Tennessee. Why recognize someone this controversial? The earned media isn’t worth the reputation and potential loss in donation dollars. This is a bad move.

As the Center for a Just Society noted, Al Gore has not been very prominent in answering the recent challenges to Climate Change credibility:

In the face of the embarrassing Climategate scandal and an unprecedented winter season that has for the first time ever delivered measurable snowfall to all 50 states, Al Gore’s absence from the public stage has been conspicuous.  Perhaps he’s taken a page from Punxsutawney Phil’s playbook and is hibernating in hopes of a sunnier forecast come April.

Why is the University doing this now? In a time when corporations and scientists are distancing themselves from climate change research, this only makes UT look foolish and will hurt them in the future. Students at Penn State have protested the actions of Professor Michael Mann. Why does UT want to willingly walk into this controversy?

Also at Instapundit and Post Politics.

The Network of enlightened Women has a post up today about Title IX, the federal policy that equalizes programs for men and women across all   levels of education. Their post is in response to a Phyllis Schafly’s Townhall.com column on the subject:

We were shocked to read a November report from the U.S. Army that 75 percent of America’s 17- to 24-year-olds are not eligible for military service, largely because they are poorly educated, involved in crime or ae physically unfit. According to this report titled “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve,” 27 percent of young Americans can’t join the military because they are too fat and out of shape, can’t do push-ups or pull-ups, and can’t run.

The Obama administration claims that the solution for this dilemma is to spend lots of money on pre-K schooling, but that doesn’t pass the laugh test. A better remedy would be to terminate “Title-Nining,” the malicious anti-masculine weapon used by feminists to eliminate men’s sports in college and high school

While I have the utmost respect for Schafly, I disagree that Title IX is the reason why only 27% of young men are eligible to join the armed services. As a society, we are fatter and more out of shape than previous generations. That’s a family-level problem and not one that can legislated. Furthermore, collegiate sports typically require elite skills, and the majority of male and female undergraduates lack those abilities.

Title IX is  just one more example of the federal government trying to create utopian policies that don’t work in real life. It has support from both sides of the aisle, and Sarah Palin frequently praises it in her book.  It’s one of those policies that has a good intention but is difficult to administer. How do you ensure equality in programs for men and women? A straight numbers game ends up hurting one sex over the other.

Currently if 50% of women are enrolled in college, 50% of the sports must be female.  It doesn’t matter if there is demand for one sport over another or if men are more interested in sports than women. You can’t have more male teams over female. Surprisingly, this hurts more men at major “powerhouse” universities where one or two sports take a majority of the funding and resources.

As I frequently mention, I attended the University of Tennessee  from 2000-2004 and had a friend on the men’s rowing team. One day during my sophomore year, I saw him on the UC Plaza participating in a fundraiser for his team. I was taken aback. Why did a UT athletic team have to fundraise? The UT athletics department is one of the wealthiest in the country with major endorsements from Adidas and Verizon.

It turns out that the men’s rowing team at UT was categorized as a “club” sport, and didn’t receive much funding. Thanks to Title IX, a few men’s varsity sports  were re-categorized as club sports while their female counterparts were elevated to varsity. Because UT has a powerful football program for men and a nearly powerful basketball team for women, it throws the dynamics off for all sports. While the women’s rowing team is a varsity team, the men’s side was only marginally higher than an intermural sport. Even though the men competed against varsity teams at other colleges, the UT system didn’t support them. Is this right?

On the other hand, Title IX had an unintended effect at UT. For generations, the state of Tennessee did not allow sororities to have houses on campus. A nineteenth century law mandated that any house with more than 13 women was considered a brothel. (Go ahead and laugh.) After years of complaints and watching fraternities build nicer and nicer houses on campus (and subsequently trash them. I’ve been inside those houses. Yuck!), it was finally decided that universities were discriminating against women by providing fraternity housing for men but not allowing sorority housing to be built.

Thus, Title IX both helps and harms students. As a former sorority member, I’m glad that women finally have equal access to housing on campus. Had Title IX not been around, the state legislature would have never struck down the brothel  law. However, Title IX does discriminate and men are frequently the victims.

Feminists won a mighty battle with Title IX and have used it to demand that equal numbers of male and female professors per department or assistantships be evenly split. They also demand  more scholarships go to women to decrease gender gaps, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math. At graduation in 2004, I remember a female African-American student, who was sitting behind me, bragging about her full ride to medical school despite her C average. She was well aware that her scholarship was awarded because of programs like affirmative action and Title IX and quite happy about it.  I just hope that I’m never one of her patients.

Call me crazy, but I never took a class because the professor was a man or a woman. I did take classes because a professor was the best in the field. I didn’t care what gender they were. I wanted quality and knowledge. The same goes for TAs. I would rather have a knowledgeable male TA than a female, who helped the department meet quotas but was otherwise unqualified.

Ultimately Title IX hurts students and the quality of their education. While it has good intentions, we all know where those lead, and  I doubt that feminists in the 70s meant for this policy to help sorority women. Programs like Title IX should not exist. It should be up to the individual school or body governing that school to decide how resources are used. Title IX takes power away from the students, faculty and administrators and gives it to bureaucrats.