Bill Gutzke, faculty senate president, announced today he will remain in his position despite an e-mail threatening to resign the position in protest over the University presidential search.
Gutzke said he based his decision on three things.
The first, he said, was support received from members of the U of M community.
"I had 150 e-mails, phone calls and people urging me to continue," Gutzke said. "That was a very strong motivation. (The correspondence) came from faculty, staff, administration and students."
The second reason, according to Gutzke, was encouragement he received from Monday's memorial service of Dr. William J. Murnane. Murnane, a history professor, died Friday of heart failure.
"Sitting at the memorial service and listening to them talk about this individual, (I realized) I do believe in (my work) and (Murnane) never gave up. I just thought about it and said I can do this and not give up my standards."
Lastly, Gutzke said his daughter inspired him to continue his tenure at The University.
"One of my daughters ... reminded me of the poem I used to read to her all the time," Gutzke said. "(It) says, 'All gold does not glisten, nor all who wander are lost. Deep are the roots of the mighty old tree that protect it from the frost.'"
Gutzke said he initially decided to leave because he felt the presidential search was not adequate.
"I think most faculty will agree with me how this list was obtained was blatantly unfair," Gutzke said.
Gutzke said he disagreed with a decision last week to remove interim president Ralph Faudree and College of Communication & Fine Arts dean Richard Ranta from the list of potential U of M presidents.
According to Gutzke, they were dropped from the search because they worked at The University of Memphis and were internal candidates.
"I think both deserve being compared to the outside candidates," Gutzke said. "If you can arbitrarily kick people off the lists, tell me what's next."
Despite the elimination of Faudree and Ranta, Gutzke said he would still press on.
"I'm not giving up," Gutzke said.
Currently, Gutzke is encouraging faculty members to contact Charles Knapp of the Heidrick and Struggles search firm, search committee chair Jack Fishman and Tennessee Board of Regents chancellor Charles Manning to express opinions about the ongoing presidential search process.
