Mitt Romney VS UMass Dartmouth: A Brief History Article by Chris Hassan, southcoast247.com correspondent
With Election Day right around the corner (and by around the corner I mean a year from now), it's time to take a good hard look at the presidential candidates. Former Republican governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney has more ties to the SouthCoast than any of the other candidates. But many American voters probably don't know Romney was the reason for a number of protests and rallies from Dartmouth to Boston.
During his time as governor, Romney tried the patience of the UMass Dartmouth community on several occasions. Many of his actions related to his goal of removing former University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger from his position. Bulger's brother is James "Whitey" Bulger, a fugitive on the F.B.I.'s most wanted list indicted for racketeering and 21 murders. The then UMass President refused to help authorities catch his brother, and this dissension landed him on Romney's hit list.
In February of 2003, Romney proposed a reorganization of the Massachusetts' higher education system and a $100 million Umass budget cut. The proposal called for the expansion of UMass Amherst and reorganize the rest of the state’s colleges by region. That means schools like UMass Dartmouth would lose state assistance, become self-supporting, and most likely raise the tuition to stay in business. The chancellors of the various schools would become the presidents of their campuses. No surprise, the proposal didn't sit well with the UMD students and faculty and student-led protests and rallies popped up on the Dartmouth campus. In April of 2003, students, faculty and staff members from UMass and Bristol Community College boarded buses and headed straight to the State House in Boston to protest Romney's plan. Banging on drums and carrying signs that read, "Stand up for public education" and "Raise the revenue," the crowd was determined to be heard. Romney could see the protest, which went from Beacon Street to Boston Common, from his office window.
Shortly after the rally that May, UMD Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack addressed an audience of concerned students, faculty, staff and administrators. MacCormack said, "I do not believe Governor Romney has our best interests at heart." Soon after Romney succumbed to opposition from the state Legislature and colleges and abandoned his proposal. Romney admitted he still liked the plan, which many believe would have damaged UMD's reputation and devalued a non-Amherst diploma.
Romney didn't forget about his plan to remove Bulger as President. Though the Legislature allowed Bulger to remain President, Romney continued his public battle with Bulger. "I believe that the time has come for the president to place the interests of the students and the university above his own interests, and to step aside as president." On August 6, 2003, Bulger resigned due to Romney’ s pressure. Bulger had accused Romney of "arrogance" and "elitism", and said his resignation was the result of a "calculated political assault."
The bad blood between UMass and the Governor didn't stop there. Massachusetts is one of six states without a public law school. In 2004, there were talks of a merger between UMass Dartmouth and the Southern New England School of Law in Dartmouth. Romney had long been opposed to the merger privately, fearing it would take money away from other University programs. Supposedly, Romney contacted members of the state Board of Higher Education and asked them to lobby against the plan, which was ultimately rejected in 2005.
In 2006, Romney dramatically shook up the UMass Board of Trustees when he did not reappoint three of four eligible memb ers. The one member reappointed voted against the law school proposal. Board chairman James Karam vocally supported a UMass law school, opposed Romney's attitude towards Bulger, and found himself replaced on the board. One of the newly appointed trustees, Richard Lawton, publicly opposed the idea of the UMass law school, but the governor's spokesman said the law school had no factor in the shake-up.
Looks like Mitt needs to campaign pretty hard down here if he wants the UMD vote. But who knows, he changes his mind so much, maybe he loves UMD, Bulger and the law school now. But probably not.
With Election Day right around the corner (and by around the corner I mean a year from now), it's time to take a good hard look at the presidential candidates. Former Republican governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney has more ties to the SouthCoast than any of the other candidates. But many American voters probably don't know Romney was the reason for a number of protests and rallies from Dartmouth to Boston.
