OT: UM to offer MSU's President an Honorary Degree (Commentary: NOOOOOOOOOO)

You are a Grade A dumbass. 

Some of you may know I've been writing a diary about "The Race to Replace Mary Sue Coleman". I was actually piecing together the third installment when that article dropped in the Detroit News today.

Hold on to your lunch but I've heard her name mentioned more than a few times as a possible replacement for Mary Sue. She knows the State of Michigan and all its political folk and significant business leaders (for better or for worse) has actually overseen a bump in academic standing and ranking, quality of applicants and fundraising at Moo U and is frankly well respected. She also sits as the President of the NCAA Presidents Committee which is pretty prestigous. Now this honorary degree thing. I have DEFINITELY heard her name mentioned as a possibility and lets not forget, Mary Sue was a Prez at another Big Ten School. There are certain circles that believe it makes a lot of sense to hire from within the Big Ten as you understand quite a bit that is unique to our region that you bring when you hit the ground in Ann Arbor.

Not going to lie, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if she makes the cross state switch.

EDIT: and yes....it makes me a little queasy to admit or write that. Just look at my avatar if you question my feelings about Michigan's Secondbest University. That said, taking the partisanship out of it, it might make sense.

"“U-M and MSU have worked pretty closely on the University Research Corridor, and lots of other things,” Fitzgerald said, referring to the a U-M, MSU and Wayne State University alliance created in 2006 to collaborate on research to reinvigorate Michigan's economy"

The Corridor is a huge deal and has many initiatives attached to it, so something like this - while strange on the surface due the rivalry perhaps - isn't entirely Earth-shattering. Actually, MSU and Michigan students, along with Wayne State students, start businesses at twice the national average, as I recall, and it is largely due to inter-university collaboration. 

From academics.

Harlan Hatcher got his BA, MA and PhD at OSU and served there as a professor, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Vice President. That didn't stop Michigan from hiring him as its eighth president in 1951 and naming the graduate library after him when he retired in 1968.

Gridiron rivalries have very little effect on academic decision-making.

Congratulations, It is a great honor to be respected amongst your peers.  When it comes to academics I never look at MSU as a rival but as an ally.  Sports are not the most important thing in the world.

Lou Anna Simon has been a good colleague to UM administrators, and that extends back to when she was provost.

There have been MSU presidents who were tools when it comes to competing against and advocating against UM.  She is not one of them.

Has always struck me as an outstanding administrator with a first rate reputatíon in the state of Michigan. Her current role as President of the NCAA Presidents Committee means that her reputation extends beyond our borders.

While her tenture at MSU has not seen as significant a rise in academic standing as Gordon Gee's at OSU, she demonstrated herself to be more thoughtful and less prone to cringe-worthy gaffes. By conferring the honorary degree, it's clear that the Board of Regents and U-M's Administration feel the same way. There is a clear, public, mutual respect between LouAnna and MSC that I have heard and seen many times.

As an alum of the University of Michigan, I would welcome her to the fold as the recipient of a U-M degree - honorary or not. And if the Regents decide she is the best candidate to replace MSC, I have no objectíons.

Whomever we get, there is some moderate lifting to do.  Our ranking as a university has dropped over MSC's tenure, the U of M hospital is no longer on the honor roll of USNWR's nationwide hospitals and from what I understand, the  North Campus Research Park is having financial issues, which someone else might be able to elucidate upon.

And while I'm at it, screw Borges.