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Editorial: Picking apart the legacy
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
04/28/09 - This issue is a depiction of the legacy of Robert L. Carothers, president of the University of Rhode Island, who for nearly two decades stood at the helm and watched the institution undergo a sea of changes.
The front page showcases the most prominent aspects of Carothers' tenure, including future plans and past battles. The inside pages pick apart his high points and low points through previous Cigar articles dating back to 1995.
Looking back, one cannot say Carothers always made the most popular decisions. It seems he has spent his life going against the grain for what he believed would achieve the greatest good.
These include decisions surrounding the drinking and the three-strike policies. Arguments regarding the changes made on the Kingston campus spanned for more than a decade, whether they were through verbal debates, the joint class-action lawsuit filed by the Student Senate and the ACLU this year against the unruly gatherings ordinance in Narragansett, or even the hundreds of letters to the editor that burned the editorial pages of The Good Five-Cent Cigar.
The biggest battle in Carothers' mind, however, was his relationship with the state of Rhode Island - a seemingly endless tug of war that has yet to come to a conclusion and probably won't until years after he is gone. Though it seems no state can ever put enough money toward education, Carothers is quick to say even with the budget crunch, the University of Rhode Island will be on its last hinge in 10 years.
Whether that's true or not is hard to tell considering all of the variables involved - the state budget crisis, the prosperity of the university, the new biotechnology facilities and the national economic crisis. His book-in-progress, a take on politics in Rhode Island as URI president, will hopefully explain a little bit more about that struggle from a personal standpoint.
Though it's possible to see the man behind the beard through many lenses, it goes without saying that Carothers has made himself a brand image of the university. His appreciation for diversity, welcoming students and standing in the face of a wall of opposition is in the least admirable.
He's been painted a thousand different ways, much like how the paintings in his own Green Hall office reflect different parts of his personality. He's been a leader, a rebel, a man of the law, a friend, a foe and of course, a hunter of muskrats.
The front page showcases the most prominent aspects of Carothers' tenure, including future plans and past battles. The inside pages pick apart his high points and low points through previous Cigar articles dating back to 1995.
Looking back, one cannot say Carothers always made the most popular decisions. It seems he has spent his life going against the grain for what he believed would achieve the greatest good.
These include decisions surrounding the drinking and the three-strike policies. Arguments regarding the changes made on the Kingston campus spanned for more than a decade, whether they were through verbal debates, the joint class-action lawsuit filed by the Student Senate and the ACLU this year against the unruly gatherings ordinance in Narragansett, or even the hundreds of letters to the editor that burned the editorial pages of The Good Five-Cent Cigar.
The biggest battle in Carothers' mind, however, was his relationship with the state of Rhode Island - a seemingly endless tug of war that has yet to come to a conclusion and probably won't until years after he is gone. Though it seems no state can ever put enough money toward education, Carothers is quick to say even with the budget crunch, the University of Rhode Island will be on its last hinge in 10 years.
Whether that's true or not is hard to tell considering all of the variables involved - the state budget crisis, the prosperity of the university, the new biotechnology facilities and the national economic crisis. His book-in-progress, a take on politics in Rhode Island as URI president, will hopefully explain a little bit more about that struggle from a personal standpoint.
Though it's possible to see the man behind the beard through many lenses, it goes without saying that Carothers has made himself a brand image of the university. His appreciation for diversity, welcoming students and standing in the face of a wall of opposition is in the least admirable.
He's been painted a thousand different ways, much like how the paintings in his own Green Hall office reflect different parts of his personality. He's been a leader, a rebel, a man of the law, a friend, a foe and of course, a hunter of muskrats.
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