In the Nov. 22 issue of The Oracle, it was incorrectly reported that Tom Emmer had been hired as a scholar-in-residence for the School of Business. Though there were conversations about the possibility of the former gubernatorial candidate joining the staff, it was never official.
“We were in conversations with Tom Emmer exploring an opportunity within the School of Business,” Strategic Communications Director JacQui Getty said. “I think people jumped to an opinion, a pre-mature opinion, about what might be happening.”
When asked about how people may have come to the conclusion that Emmer was being hired, Getty said that Emmer had attended a formal meeting at the School of Business.
“I think Tom attended a meeting, he was brought to a meeting by one the members from the School of Business, and there was conversations about what was being explored,” Getty said. “There was never a formal offer.”
Business Professor David Schultz explained that the meeting had taken place on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Though Schultz was told that Emmer was hired as a scholar-in-residence, he could not confirm that it had actually happened because he was not able to attend that particular meeting. On Thursday, Nov. 17, Schultz explained that another faculty member came to him with the information.
“I was almost completely in the dark,” Schultz said when asked about what had happened throughout the Emmer discussion.
Schultz also wanted to note that his knowledge was “hearsay” and that no one officially informed him.
However, it was officially confirmed that Emmer had introduced a proposal to Hamline earlier in the year.
Schultz said that Emmer had joined Dean Anne McCarthy in September to pitch his public policy forum proposal and that after the meeting McCarthy had approached Schultz saying she had hired Emmer as an adjunct professor in business law. This information has not been confirmed to be factual.
“He came to Hamline with a proposal, I think we revised that into the opportunity for possibly an executive-in-residence,” Getty said.
Getty also explained that because the School of Business already had two executive-in-residence positions, it was concluded that Emmer should not be hired.
“In the end, the decision was made not to hire a third executive-in-residence,” Getty said.
Schultz said that after staff began hearing about the possibility of Emmer joining the Hamline faculty, e-mails were drafted by some staff members to be sent to administration outlining their concerns over the hiring of Emmer.
Schultz said that the faculty was concerned for two major reasons, including whether the political positions Emmer holds were incompatible with the university’s mission, specifically his stance on same-sex marriage.
The second concern stemmed from the way Emmer was possibly being hired. Staff were being told that he was simply selected by McCarthy, which goes against the faculty handbook, Schultz said. The procedures for new hires includes a hiring committee and faculty review, which was not happening at the time faculty heard the rumors that Emmer was being hired.
Schultz said he was getting conflicting information on the matter from the beginning.
“Some were saying that he was and others were saying that he wasn’t,” Schultz said when discussing how he came to the conclusion that Emmer had been hired. He also mentioned that he became officially informed by Getty that Emmer had not been hired after the publishing of The Oracle.
As for how Emmer was being informed of these decisions, Getty said that he was in discussions with the School of Business Dean.
The Oracle apologizes for the misinformation.