The president has made a new blog post that includes an embedded video address to the campus with a sobering message: the state’s budget cuts have raised questions to which, he says, “I won’t kid you; I don’t have all the answers at this point.”He writes, however, that he will do his best to avoid layoffs.
Lariviere writes that the state board will meet later this week to discuss how to face this challenge.
Lariviere hasn’t received any responses to his video so far, and his blog posts do not allow for comments. However, in general, the response to his having a blog in the first place has been largely positive, at least from what I’ve seen, although there is skepticism on the UO Matters threads, owing to the absence of a comments section.
The full text is also below:
I want to thank everyone for the remarkably warm welcome that they’ve extended to Jan and I in our first week here. It’s been great to step onto a campus that’s so enthusiastic and passionate about what it does.
I also want to talk to you for a moment about the budget. I won’t kid you. I don’t have all the answers at this point. No one does.
What I can tell you, however, is that we are dedicated to preserving and protecting the core mission of this university. And the core mission of this university is only possible if we have the kind of people working here that we have right now. We want to avoid the layoffs. We want to protect what it is that you do here so very well.
Again we want to thank you for what you have done, for your passion, for your dedication and for your loyalty to this remarkable institution. Thank you.