John Brummett summarizes the search for a University of Arkansas System president as, essentially, much ado about a nothing job. From the establishment point of view, he writes, being a farmer and Baptist and not an educator (see Jim Lindsey tool Stanley Reed) is quite good enough.

I’ll leave you with two predictions.

One is that your life will not be remotely affected by this hiring, though it will seem to you that it ought to be.

The second is that the new president’s to-do list will be the same every day, consisting of one item only, which will be to get the packets ready for the next board meeting.

If Brummett is right on either of his main themes — that qualifications don’t count and that the job is meaningless anyway — I’d draw two conclusions of my own:

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1) It’s another embarrassment to Arkansas, which is accustomed to that on the educational front.

2) It’s a good thing we currently pay the university president less than half what we pay the baseball coach at Fetvul.

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