U. of I. alumni vent over sports woes – Chicago Tribune

If Barbara Wilson didn’t understand the unhappiness of University of Illinois sports fans when she took over as interim chancellor in August, the emails that flowed to her over the next three and half months provided an education.

Wilson took over after the abrupt exit of Phyllis Wise just three weeks before football coach Tim Beckman was fired on Aug. 28. On Nov. 9, Wilson fired athletic director Mike Thomas.

Hundreds of emails to Wilson obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press show that while a few writers gave her a virtual pat on the back and wished her well, most wanted something such as:

— To argue, before he was fired, that Thomas should go.

— To complain that interim football coach Bill Cubit shouldn’t get the job permanently, or to urge that he should.

— To suggest a replacement for Beckman.

— To threaten to end their financial contributions to university sports.

“The best descriptor I can come up with for U of I right now is chaos,” one alumnus wrote just after Beckman was fired, complaining about Wise’s departure and a long list of campus problems. “I’m distressed to say that I am disappointed by and even ashamed of the leadership of the University at so many levels, and this is from someone who has given generously of his time and money for decades and who genuinely loves the University.”

The university redacted the names of people who emailed Wilson and other administrators.

The emails show alumni, other fans and even some former players unhappy with many of the moves Wilson made, the speed at which she made them and the long-term state of the university’s most visible sports. More than one writer used the word disaster.

“My sincere thanks for finally putting an end to the unmitigated disaster that Tim Beckman and Bob (sic) Thomas represented to all of the alumni like me,” one alumnus wrote in a rare show of support for a Wilson decision.

Many complaints followed the Nov. 28 decision to give Cubit, who was elevated from an assistant’s job to interim coach when Beckman was fired, a two-year contract to become the permanent coach.