Black legislators support Herbert

The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus gathered at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Wednesday to publicly declare its support for IU President Adam Herbert, calling the push for a midterm review a "slap in the face for the African-American people and the University."\n"We are concerned with the fairness of the treatment of this current president," said Greg Porter, chairman of the IBLC and state representative for District 96 in Indianapolis. "We want to show our respect for this great African-American who is leading one of the best universities in the country."\nThe caucus is made up of 13 state legislative representatives who have organized to make an effort to pass state laws that will have a positive effect on minorities. Five of these representatives were not present, but Porter said the sentiments expressed in the meeting were unanimous among the IBLC.\nThe representatives said they were concerned that the recent push to submit Herbert to a midterm performance review is motivated by racial tension and not representative of all eight IU campuses. In November, Bloomington faculty members voted in favor of a resolution asking the board of trustees to review Herbert's performance, with two-thirds of faculty members participating in the vote. This resolution arose about a month after Herbert abandoned the final three candidates for next year's vacant chancellor position.\n"Two-thirds of Bloomington (faculty) is only 20 percent of the faculty in the system," said Vernon Smith, state representative for District 14 in Gary. "President Herbert does not deserve the treatment he has been receiving from a small portion of this faculty."\nHerbert's performance has recently received specific criticism from faculty on his accessibility to students and faculty and his follow-ups with donors. The members called these accusations unfair, citing recent private donations received and defending Herbert's visibility.\n"I can say without equivocation that Adam Herbert is one of the most visible and accessible presidents of a university that I have seen in a long time," said Bill Crawford, state representative for District 98 in Indianapolis. "The best interest of the University would be to deny this unprecedented midterm \nreview."\nThe members also said these criticisms were trivial when pitted against his \naccomplishments.\n"We suggest to (the trustees) that they need to look at the entire record of President Herbert," Porter said. "We've had a number of presidents we've interacted with, and we did not observe the disrespect that has been shown to him."\nPorter also added that he feels Herbert is a pivotal leader for blacks and that a threat to his leadership position should be cause for concern.\n"President Herbert is a role model for the black community of the state of Indiana," Porter said. "I think that's the problem in the African-American community: We let our heroes be torn down."\nBillie Breaux, senate representative for District 34 in Indianapolis, serves on the State Senate Education Committee and echoed the sentiments of the other IBLC representatives.\n"It pains us all to see that an organization that we believe so strongly in might not be treating some of us fairly," Breaux said. "Adam Herbert deserves justice, and we hope the trustees will give it to him."\nThe board of trustees is scheduled to meet Saturday at IU-Bloomington to decide whether or not to review Herbert.