Boren merits respect, appreciation

Ihave been disheartened by the continuing attacks on my longtime friend David Boren, a man for whom I have great respect and affection. These attacks are unnecessary, unjustified and mostly just wrong.

I came to the University of Oklahoma a year after David became its president, so I have had a ringside seat to view all that was accomplished. It was truly phenomenal.

At the time he arrived, the university was disorganized, dysfunctional and stagnant. He reorganized the internal structure and put the right people in the right places. Through his personal leadership and prodigious fundraising efforts, he transformed the Norman campus, built a Tulsa campus and breathed new life into the medical center, which in terms of research and patient care has now become one of the finest in the country.

During these years, I worked with faculty, staff, students, other deans and the university regents on many projects. I cannot believe there was ever a happier time to be associated with the university. Everyone could feel and see the positive changes going on around them and were proud to be involved. I was with David in all kinds of situations. Not only did I never see an untoward action on his part, he was always cheerful and upbeat. He always left people feeling better about themselves and the jobs they were doing. Through all the years,

David's leadership has been magnificent.

The furor over the mistaken submission to U.S. News & World Report is true nonsense. Reports of the number of alums contributing in any one year is such a minuscule part of the annual reports submitted by the university that it could not and did not ever have any effect on OU's ranking.

I doubt if there was ever a real financial crisis. Institutions of higher education always run out of money at the end of their budget year. They are supposed to. Sure, there was some debt, but it was bond indebtedness, payable a little at a time over many years. Anyone who knows David knows he would never leave the university in the midst of a true financial crisis.

As to the claims of improper touching, don't believe them. The main claimant changed his story and only became accusatory after he was refused a payoff. When analyzed, his claims based upon the sometime double hearsay contained in the infamous six pages of the unbelievably expensive investigative report, are not worthy of belief.

In spite of all the smoke that has been generated, there really isn't any fire. David Boren richly deserves our respect and appreciation for his great accomplishments on behalf of our university and on behalf of all Oklahomans.