He and others believe the search should have been an open process as in the past, or a semi-open process.

 

We asked if this was due to Johnson's conservative political views.

 

"If you just take his name off the curriculum vitae and this was an applicant to be university president the qualifications are not there. Two, we can dance around the issue but politics is part of this. The board is politically appointed and then chooses a politician. How is that not political," Vopat asked.

 

They're concerned about how YSU President Johnson will interpret Senate Bill 83 in the classroom and on campus due to his political views. 

 

"What does that say to someone like me, who teaches philosophy and ethics? Can I no longer talk about abortion or gay marriage in my classroom? Can the political science department not talk about immigration, immigration policy, and the same with economics and others, climate change which is covered in both environmental science and economics," Vopat asked.

 

He and others believe the surveys to help determine the best candidate to lead the university forward should be made public.

 

A member of the YSU Academic Senate says Johnson can build trust by releasing his Curriculum Vitae or resume and application materials, by attending new presidents' training for universities, and by filling a diversity equity and inclusion or DEI position that's vacant.

 

"Making board policy so that this doesn't happen again, having town hall meetings set from dates for those, filling the assistant provost position currently vacant, and having President Johnson attend safe zone training, our LGBTQIA allied training," Amanda Fehlbaum, At-large Senator for Beeghly College of Liberal Arts Social Sciences, and education, or BCLASSE.

 

We reached out to the incoming YSU president Johnson who states he has been meeting with faculty, staff, and students and looks forward to meeting people individually in a setting more conducive to building a positive relationship with the shared goal of helping YSU students excel and achieve.

 

"YSU has more than 1500 employees and I understand less than 50 professors voted against me. I've never met those folks, but I'll open my door to each of them if they want to work together. I look forward to meeting one one-on-one with hundreds of employees and I'll work to find common ground with them so we can all cast a vote of confidence for our students," Congressman and incoming YSU President Bill Johnson said.

 

The professors who voted no confidence point out no not all professors can vote just members of the Academic Senate. Members consist of one person who heads each department and other representatives.

 

They point out this is a good representative of employees who have no confidence in the Trustees and the president of the university the board selected.