I don't think this is going to end well for President Frenk...

TheOriginalCane

So say good night to the bad guy!
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So, let's see...retains ineffective Athletic Director who is a terrible fund-raiser...overstays his own 5-year contract as UM president...but fires law school Dean 2 years into his 5-year contract for not being a great fund-raiser during an 18-month period impacted by COVID...

Makes sense...

https://www.law.com/nationallawjour...8scolEnEAfg1L1R41Ep-0&slreturn=20210508114333
 
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So, let's see...retains ineffective Athletic Director who is a terrible fund-raiser...overstays his own 5-year contract as UM president...but fires law school Dean 2 years into his 5-year contract for not being a great fund-raiser during an 18-month period impacted by COVID...

Makes sense...

https://www.law.com/nationallawjour...8scolEnEAfg1L1R41Ep-0&slreturn=20210508114333

Has it really been 5 years? And yeah, he's not exactly good at his job.
 
But his orientation wasn't a secret when he was hired. I don't think that's it, but there is something very odd about the matter. As a grad, I've been following the situation a bit and am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, other than he's bad at fundraising, the reasons for the departure have not been publicized.
 
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But his orientation wasn't a secret when he was hired. I don't think that's it, but there is something very odd about the matter. As a grad, I've been following the situation a bit and am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, other than he's bad at fundraising, the reasons for the departure have not been publicized.


Agreed. The fund-raising thing is ridiculous, considering the timing overlap with COVID.
 
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Real tough to figure out with the AD-(sarcasm). He obviously had, or has had, Diaz go to bat for him.

No other P5 school was going to hire him, and rightfully so, as a HC.
 
So, let's see...retains ineffective Athletic Director who is a terrible fund-raiser...overstays his own 5-year contract as UM president...but fires law school Dean 2 years into his 5-year contract for not being a great fund-raiser during an 18-month period impacted by COVID...

Makes sense...

https://www.law.com/nationallawjour...8scolEnEAfg1L1R41Ep-0&slreturn=20210508114333
Can you summarize for those without access? Fundraising at a law school is hard anywhere and in normal times. That’s crazy and if anything is more of an indictment on their initial choice to hire him. What a dumpster fire.

Edit - was he hired when Bass was the chair of the board? You’d think the former head of Greenberg as chair would have helped that process.
 
Did the University make a statement as to why he was fired?

@TheOriginalCane


Yes.

It is partially quoted in the Miami Hurricane article.

But here is the full letter from the e-mail that I received from President Frenk in May:

1623170608502.png
 
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Can you summarize for those without access? Fundraising at a law school is hard anywhere and in normal times. That’s crazy and if anything is more of an indictment on their initial choice to hire him. What a dumpster fire.

Edit - was he hired when Bass was the chair of the board? You’d think the former head of Greenberg as chair would have helped that process.


It's hard to summarize, because so little ACTUAL TRUTH has been given.

It happened quickly, with no advance warning, and many have complained about the lack of transparency.

I would also add that UM Law has struggled with fund-raising in prior years, and we survived. It took longer than it should have taken to get improvements/renovations for the Law Library.

I think a couple of people have pointed out some simple things. It doesn't seem like "being ***" should be an issue, as it was a known issue. He is being retained to teach, so it doesn't seem like it would be anything related to "morals" (i.e., affair with a student, sexual harrassment, or any other current day issue which usually leads to termination). The letter from Frenk mentions fund-raising, but (a) Varona has been Dean for 2 years, and over half of that time was impacted by COVID, and (b) there are still 4 years left in the fund-raising campaign, so why not hire an ace "Development" VP to help out?

Ultimately, the issue moves to Frenk, and his judgment, and the bad questions and bad publicity that this raises. Maybe Frenk is right, maybe Frenk is wrong, but if national publications are publishing stories related to the sexual orientation of Dean Varona (and whether you like the press or not, these questions can arise when there is very little transparency), then you have to imagine that this will not reflect well on Frenk.

It's time to make a change, and yes, this impacts our Athletics program too. LOTS of colleges/universities are struggling with the impact that COVID had on Athletics, and we need to find a leader who will resist the temptation to cut programs simply because revenue is down right now.
 
There is grasping at straws and then there is claiming that the University of Miami fired someone in the school administration for being ***. If anything, his orientation boosted his chances of landing the job (sends all the right virtue signals) and getting a healthy paycheck. This isn't to say he didn't deserve the job in the first place, but there are always good candidates with impeccable credentials and you have to find something to separate them.

What is odd though is the school removing someone for underperforming. If I was Varona's lawyer, I'd point out the performance of the football, baseball, basketball programs and then school plummeting in the rankings in nearly all academic aspects (tied with FSU!) and ask, "So why start caring now?"
 
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