The University of Illinois at Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Presidential Center for Governmental Studies was the latest victim of the governor’s own style of politics. In July 2003, the Center was stripped of its $1.5 million state appropriation to carry out academic programming in conjunction with the soon to open Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and last week it was stripped of its Lincoln name.
Although countless other public and private colleges and universities in the state and nation, cemeteries, libraries, cities, other institutions, and possibly even Springfield’s airport can adopt the name of Abraham Lincoln, UIS is precluded from association with the name according to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and University of Illinois Board of Trustee Chair Lawrence C. Eppley — purportedly the name might confuse potential funding sources who can’t tell a presidential library and museum from a university public policy center. The fact that UIS has as much of a claim to the name as any other entity, particularly in light of its 16-year partnership with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency on the Lincoln Legal Papers and Lincoln Papers Projects, the location at UIS of one of the country’s most renowned Lincoln Scholars, Phillip Paludan, its successful launching of several Lincoln-related programs last year, and its location in Lincoln’s hometown, is of no consequence.
The reality is that the Center at UIS was unknowingly caught in the middle of a fight for control of the Presidential Library and Museum that surfaced between Julie Cellini, chairperson of the Illinois Historic Preservation Board and former Gov. George Ryan.
In November 2000, Ryan’s administration approached UIS about becoming the “academic arm” of the presidential library and museum. Knowing that a number of the prestigious presidential libraries, such as the Bush (Texas A & M University), Johnson (University of Texas at Austin), and Truman (University of Missouri-Kansas City) Libraries, had close affiliations with public universities, UIS was pleased to become a partner. Initially UIS involvement appeared to be welcomed by all parties. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 13 public and private universities, the Illinois State Board of Education, and others joined UIS in submitting a successful planning grant to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
Just as planning got underway, Steve Neal wrote his first column accusing Ryan and UIS of conspiring to use the Center as a dumping ground for patronage appointees. Although nothing could be further from the truth (UIS conducted searches for credentialed people to fill all vacancies), Neal continued to lodge such allegations and others over the next two years in his column in the Chicago Sun-Times. From all appearances, the political jockeying came to a head sometime during summer or fall of 2001, when Ryan and Cellini clashed over Richard Norton Smith’s appointment as first director of the presidential library and museum and fears that Robert Newtson, Ryan’s chief of staff, would be appointed instead.
Steve Neal repeatedly expressed animosity for Newtson and championed Smith’s appointment in his columns. Contradicting himself, he sometimes accused Ryan of planning to appoint Newtson as the director of the presidential library and museum and sometimes Neal accused UIS of planning to appoint Newtson, as executive director of the UIS Center. As to the UIS Center, Neal has argued both that it should not be connected to the presidential library and museum and that its new executive director should have been a Lincoln specialist. He misrepresented that the Center’s $1.5 million in state dollars was diverted from the presidential library and museum.
With the election of Blagojevich, the balance of power shifted back to Cellini. The wife of a successful businessman and political powerbroker in the state, Julie Cellini, with the continued help of Neal’s biased and inflammatory reporting, got Blagojevich’s support. The presidential library and museum provided Blagojevich with yet another opportunity to charge his predecessor with playing “bad” politics. UIS paid the price.
And what exactly did UIS do wrong? Despite critics’ charges, it never agreed to or would have allowed its Center to become a patronage dump. But it did have the gall to agree with Ryan that it could make contributions to the development of the presidential library and museum that would help both the library and the campus achieve stature and recognition and better serve the citizens of the state and nation — much the same way that other public universities have done through partnering with presidential libraries and museums.
Knowing the allegations of the critics to be false, why did the University of Illinois buckle under Blagojevich’s and Eppley’s demands so fast that it didn’t even take the time to follow its own procedures, which require prior unit and campus senate approval of a name change? Time will tell.
Whatever U. of I.’s motivation, taking UIS out of the picture cleared the way for Richard Norton Smith’s acceptance of the presidential library and museum director position. When he arrives, my hope is that he will review the actions taken in relationship to UIS and come to the conclusion that UIS can make valuable contributions that will strengthen both institutions.
Three years of planning and program development, the countless hours spent
by 85 individuals from around the state who served on planning committees, not
to mention the state dollars expended in the process, resulted in the conceptualization
of some exceptional Lincoln-related programs. What a waste it would be if these
programs were not allowed to come to fruition. Let’s not forget that Abraham
Lincoln was an advocate of building strong alliances rather than going it alone.
And even though Lincoln argued the importance of never acting out of vengeance
or spite, Ryan’s critics have now gotten their revenge on him and UIS for cooperating
with him; it is to everyone’s benefit to move forward in a more constructive
fashion.
This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2003.
