40 responses so far ↓

• 1 PWK // Jul 2, 2008 at 7:43 pm

  Awww - poor little Bobby Felner - his car was damaged. How does that compare with ruining people’s careers, damaging their self-esteem, causing mental breakdowns? Sorry - no sympathy here.

• 2 RookieDad // Jul 2, 2008 at 8:55 pm

  The info you guys dig up has all the elements of a great tragedy, except the good Dr. Bob never realizes his tragic flaw. Maybe his career would better fit into the prime time reality show format. Lights, cameras, Scandal!

• 3 jake // Jul 2, 2008 at 9:03 pm

  I’m not entirely convinced his life is one big scandal, but everything we’re uncovering seems to suggest interesting patterns of behavior and tons and tons of disgruntled employees. Doesn’t look too promising– to the point that it’s actually saddening.

• 4 Relieved // Jul 2, 2008 at 10:39 pm

  I often wind up feeling sorry for the bad/sad guy but not in this case. He is what the DSM refers to as an antisocial personality disorder. He has no conscience, no sense of morality, no empathy for others, no compassion for others. He ENJOYS being cruel to others. He is truly an EVIL man. Those who reinforced him by allowing or following blindly should be ashamed. Those of us who tried to draw attention to what was going on were punished in a variety of ways from public ridicule and humiliation to ratings of unsatisfactory job performance and ongoing efforts to push us out. Going to work was a nightmare, but some of us stuck it out by developing multiple coping mechanisms and hanging on to the fact that he never stayed anywhere for very long. He deserves every bit of the public humilation that he so generously doled out to others.

• 5 John Doe // Jul 3, 2008 at 12:14 am

  Unlike his counterparts in the mainstream media, Jake apparently doesn’t have the benefit of an editor reading behind him to help spot holes in his work. As a public service, I’m volunteering to help him out. Here are some excerpts from Jake’s post, and the kinds of questions an editor might ask:

  > Over the past 12 days we have uncovered hundreds upon hundreds of documents and are slowly pouring over them.

  Why not put all of the records online now so readers can judge for themselves? Why only make public a few selected documents? Why is it taking you so long to go over them?

  > done some things so wrong (or right) that people were driven to vandalize his convertible BMW

  Since the person or persons responsible were apparently never found, how do you know that the vandalism was the result of him having “done things so wrong (or right)”? Have you looked for other similar vandalism reports involving other faculty or student cars during the same period? Is it possible the vandalism is unrelated to Felner personally?

  > “We will get you one way or the other. Read this. Resign now while you can.”

  Have you considered the possibility that the kind of person who would be driven to vandalize his car could also be the kind of person who would spread false, malicious rumors? Are you putting the same investigative effort into researching that possibility as you are into investigating Felner?

  > And his school-owned laptop mysteriously disappeared from his desk at work. On October 26, 2005, Felner reported the theft of his Gateway laptop after a suspicious person had been seen in his building. Three women in Felner’s office identified someone who resembled the suspicious person in the building, according to the police report.

  Have you looked into whether other items were stolen around the same time? Was the laptop ever recovered? How common is it to have laptops stolen on campus?

  > We’re not sure what all of this means other than, well, the man certainly made some enemies while at the University of Louisville. Big enough enemies to threaten him.

  The only unambiguous evidence here that Felner has “made some enemies” is the letter. (Incidentally, how do you know the letter was written by more than one person? Would “enemy or enemies” be better phrasing?) There’s no direct evidence from what you present here that the other incidents were aimed at Felner personally, other than Felner’s own suspicions, which could have been mistaken. Vandalism and theft are common occurrences on college campuses.

  > And it’s interesting that a laptop computer disappeared since his computers are now at the center of a federal investigation.

  Computers are everywhere these days, even more so at a university. What are you trying to say here? That someone stole the laptop to get back at Felner? Or that Felner stole it himself? Do you have any documents, sources or other evidence to support any of those scenarios? If not, why say it this way?

  In addition to the investigative holes you still need to fill, you should double check your spelling, grammar and word choices. A few examples:

  > slowly pouring over them

  That would be “poring” — unless you’ve spilled coffee on the records.

  > who had a bone to pick

  Did Felner use those words? Otherwise consider a different choice of words, preferably not a cliche.

  > Said he thought six to eight individuals could be responsible

  Sentences should be complete and have a subject.

  But keep it up Jake. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

• 6 tbrauch // Jul 3, 2008 at 12:33 am

  Maybe he should file a police report because I heard that he had like 100 boxes taken from his office a few Fridays ago.

  Oh wait… never mind, I think the police are already on top of that.

  And, it’s impressive to see that Felner’s lawyer is posting on your page. Although, I didn’t realize his name was John Doe.

• 7 jake // Jul 3, 2008 at 12:38 am

  All right, since some asshat thinks he’s something for posting anonymous comments (Who are you, Scott Cox?), I’ll respond.

  Why not put all the documents online? Hop your happy ass over to my office and start scanning, sweetie. And then pony up your bank account to pay for the hosting. That still doesn’t mean I’ll be publishing everything. Some documents aren’t fit for publication because of vulgarity, some won’t mean anything until other research is completed, some won’t be timely for a while.

  It takes a dick year to go through several hundred pages when you’re, oh, running a business and several successful websites.

  How do you know the repeated vandalism wasn’t the result of doing something right or wrong? You don’t. Get off it.

  Yeah, I looked into whether other items were stolen around the same time. Not common to have laptops stolen on campus.

  I don’t have any holes to fill in. Because– guess what– it’s my website. what I say goes. I get to release documents when I want to release them– usually during periods of peak readership or when I have time to dedicate to posting. I get to report what I want to report when I want to report it.

  Oh– and unlike my counterparts in the mainstream media, I’m not beholden to what an advertiser thinks or what the University of Louisville pressures me to do.

  Thanks for the grammatical corrections. Regular readers of this site, which you’re obviously not, know that we write like we speak– not always in complete sentences and usually with tons of slang.

  And to the Felner trolls making threats (and the Felner troll posting comments like the one above): You do not want me to start publishing everything we’ve got. Don’t tempt me. It won’t be pretty. You’ve got enough to handle as it is and the University of Louisville doesn’t need that kind of drama on its hands.

• 8 robert felner // Jul 3, 2008 at 2:32 am

  hi my name is robert felner is suck!

• 9 Always Amazed // Jul 3, 2008 at 9:23 am

  Jake, the best service you are providing is giving the folks who were treated badly by Felner a voice. Maybe now they can begin to heal. From the posts on this site already, it is obvious that Felner acted irresponsibly, unprofessionally, and most likely criminally. I personally know two excellent people who are no longer in the CEHD dept directly because of Felner. Neither were treated fairly and they are both well respected individuals in their field and amongst their peers. John Doe, you are irrelevant. No one cares about your spellchecking or your “professional journalism”. Get over yourself. Or better yet, start writing your own column for your own paper reporting on what’s going on with Mr. Felner! Accept the fact that sites like pageonekentucky.com have stripped away your ability to hide and protect the Felner types that enjoy abusing their power in this city.

• 10 HowardWCampbell // Jul 3, 2008 at 4:55 pm

  While I understand John Doe’s concern, based upon my experience with Felner, almost all speculation is probably true. There is so much more that could still be said that is negative but true about him. I agree with Always Amazed, Felner has real problems. The man lies constantly and has the ability to get others to actively or tacitly support his lies. He is always on the attack and has no respect for anyone that does not agree with him. You are either with him on everything or you are his enemy. Grievances that were filed against him were lost because he had others support his lies. I do not enjoy seeing this happen to anyone but if anyone deserves it, Felner does. The man has a Napoleon complex. I do not support the damage that was done to his property but I do understand where urge comes from.

• 11 Mark S // Jul 4, 2008 at 9:38 am

  Similar incidents also happened at Auburn when he came under scrutiny just prior to Felner’s departure. This was even before he was at the UIC-U. At the time there was speculation whether he did it himself to garner sympathy from those unaware or unswayed by his alleged ethical difficulties. If you could find faculty or more importantly, staff or former graduate students from during his tenure at Auburn you would get an earful. Particularly the female ones. Particularly his graduate students (you know, the ones that are entirely at the subjective mercy of their major professors and have no where to turn to in an academic setting).

• 12 factsman // Jul 4, 2008 at 4:55 pm

  I saw the threatening letter and I also was connected to the disenfranchised and angry group of faculty. None of them knew anything about it and we all surmised he wrote it himself.
  Since this is a childish and silly idea, we just forgot about the whole affair. Now I read that faculty at Auburn shared our ridiculous idea. Fascinating. Even if this isn’t true, the thought that this guy can inspire such thoughts in widely different faculties is amazing. This person is so sick. I still have to blame the Provost and President for ignoring the faculty about him. Their mantra was that he was changing the culture and some faculty needed to be sacrificed for the future state (fatherland). I’m being kind when I use the word “ignored” by the way, since really we were treated like our ideas were meaningless. Quite degrading actually.

• 13 SheWho // Jul 5, 2008 at 12:04 pm

  Degrading is a perfect word to describe the manner in which the Provost and President acted or, more specifically, continue to act. Everyone is aware of the possibile liability the university has…..but, likely on the advice of legal counsel, placing one’s head in the sand in no way to be an ethical and effective leader.

  Call for new leadership….perhaps starting with the Board of Trustees–although it is possible that they were not aware of the true character of the Felner regime until after the Board of Overseers provided some feedback from their interviews of faculty which, of course, did not make it into the final report.

  “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Acton (1887)

  I’m really not sure about the great part–could the UofL administration really believe that to get faculty to modify their roles a ‘bad (disgusting, bullying) nightmare of a leader (henchman)’ was required? Oh dear–this is quite a situation. Heard those academics!

• 14 Confused // Jul 6, 2008 at 12:53 am

  “A disgruntled student or staff member who knows where he parks could be responsible.” Is this what he said to the campus police officer on the first very occasion of vandalism? How could he see this in his mind as soon as he saw the damage? Why did he continuously use the reserved parking spot and let unknown person(s) damage his BMW?

• 15 Looking Forward // Jul 6, 2008 at 11:31 am

  Jake,
  You were exactly right when you wrote that the Felner situation, “Doesn’t look too promising– to the point that it’s actually saddening.” Felner made some very good strategic and hiring moves for the college, with the result that the college’s national reputation rose significantly. Most U of L colleges and departments were not rising at the same rate, and Felner deserves some of the credit for that rise. At exactly the same time he made a range of mistakes and frequently displayed a mean-spiritedness that is being chronicled by the respondents to your blog. No-doubt you are finding more in the other materials you are gathering. Both sides include facts.

  Two other sets of facts are worth remembering. First, Felner is now beginning to pay a price that will last for the rest of his life. If the combination of the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Postal Service find that he has committed crimes, Felner will be tried and perhaps found guilty. But even if the investigators decide no crime has been committed—and I have no idea what they will conclude—Felner’s career trajectory has been permanently, radically lowered.

  The second fact worth noting is that Felner’s highly verbal detractors were and remain their own worst enemies. The grievance filed against Felner in conjunction with the no confidence vote contained so many errors of fact, grammar, and spelling that it would have gotten a failing grade in a junior high school creative writing class. Any senior administrator receiving it would be concerned both at some of the allegations and at the factual sloppiness and illiteracy of the document. When “PWK” responded to your story about damage to Felner’s car, his/her immediate response, “Awww - poor little Bobby Felner - his car was damaged.” is exactly the kind of insensitive, mean spiritedness that Felner’s enemies see in him. Similarly, if “Relieved” is a licensed psychologist, s/he risks his/her license in publicly declaring a Diagnostic Style Manual label to someone with whom s/he presumably has not counseled.

  The majority of the College of Education and Human Development faculty is a group of often nationally recognized teachers and scholars. They are the kind of responsible educators that America needs educating our next generation of teachers. Almost to the person the very competent majority has tried to stay out of the unending food fights and efforts at much worse that swirled around the former dean. The substantial majority of faculty members has worked hard to enhance the effectiveness and the reputation of the college and the university. That competent, often nation-leading majority wants to let the legal system do its job, and help the College of Education and the University of Louisville heal, and move forward.

• 16 PWK // Jul 6, 2008 at 12:52 pm

  My “mean spirited, insensitive” response to the news of Felner’s car was a knee-jerk reaction. How can I possibly feel bad about the anger toward him that drove someone to do this, (or possibly the fact that he may have damaged the car himself to obtain sympathy) when what he did to me was so horrible, I had a nervous breakdown. I agree with you on everything you’ve said, and part of me feels very sorry for Robert - but, this site has given many people a way to vent their personal anger toward him. I said it - I’m not sorry - and I’m over it.

• 17 ed // Jul 6, 2008 at 7:36 pm

  Looking Forward,

  I must be honest in saying I am conflicted in how to react to your posting. The general tenor of your words is very reminiscent of Atticus Finch, the voice of reason, standing before the jury as he presents his closing argruements imploring them to do the right thing.

  I do not mean to imply that you defended Felner in any way. You certainly did not. In fact, you noted (quite correctly) that regardless of the investigation’s resulting charges…or lack thereof…. the man is essentially finished professionally.

  However, if you’ll pardon me, there was a certain condescension that ran through your message. Oversimplified, it sounded like, “Now, now, children, let’s not say such horrid things about other people. Mean spirited talk is not going to get us anywhere. Dignity and respect at all times.”

  I am retired from a verly long and wonderful career in education, and am now on to the world of publishing. In both those roles, I have approached every person with dignity and respect for over 35 years. The successes I’ve had and the lasting relationships I have forged have not only been remarkable, but clearly the result of that approach.

  So…what I’m really saying here….is that I do agree with you. Thus, my conflict.

  Every once in a while, an individual comes along whose personality and actions are so far…so very far…away from what any normal thinking person would consider acceptable, someone whose behavior is so egregious, that it simply cannot be ignored.

  Sir (just an impression you are a man), Robert Felner is that behavioral anomoly. He has, over the years, repeatedly exhibited almost every textbook trait of a psychopath. (If my intentions here were to simply sling mud, I’d say the ONLY thing missing from the dictionary definition was his picture!! But…that is not my intention).

  He has, for years, left a wake of destruction….personal, professional and certainly emotional, wherever he went. His extremely abusive nature and megalomaniacal fantasies knew no bounds, and almost seemed to grow with each new position he took. He may have elevated the status of institutions he was involved with and likely had an incredible knack for bringing in huge sums of grant money. However, none of that mattered to anyone who ever experienced the real Robert Felner. They will not care a whit about is Dr. Jekyll because his Mr. Hyde is just so damn ugly.

  So, I’m wondering, Sir, do you know the man? Have you worked with him? Have you been around him for any length of time? If so, I suspect you were a superior and he kept his ugliness in check. Otherwise, you would be singing a vastly different tune.

  It is professionally surprising that the actual grievance filed by the U of L staff was, as you say, sloppy and illiterate. That sad fact aside, it doesn’t change the reality of what went on there. They had simply had enough of his abuse. Everyone has.

  PWK and (undoubtedly) legions of others finally have a place…and an opportunity….to speak out and vent the anger and frustration many of them have undoubtedly lived with for years, yet they had no forum in which to speak. For those folks, this is cathartic!! This is not about PWK walking some fine line professionally, or her (again..a guess) fearing losing her license. Not even close!! This is about the Abused, coming as close as they probably ever will be able to standing in front of their Abuser and saying, “You BASTARD!! I hate you for everything you did, and whatever happens to you just scratches the surface of what you deserve!!”

  Overly dramatic? Verbal histrionics? Only if you haven’t known the real Robert Felner.

  It is not at all in my nature to think or feel this way. Let alone wish harm on anyone. Yet, as I said earlier, every once in a while someone comes along who is so despicable, our reactions to him simply cannot be subdued…nor should they be.

  Hitler comes to mind.

• 18 Rene Thompson // Jul 6, 2008 at 11:41 pm

  He complained to the police that Coca-Cola was spilt on his car and at other times he had bumps and scratches on his car. Does he realize that he works at a university? There may very well have been no amount of malice involved, just kids goofing around and still learning to drive.

  Sounds like a martyrdom complex to me.

• 19 Looking Forward // Jul 7, 2008 at 12:01 am

  Ed,
  As you no doubt know, Atticus Finch was not merely “the voice of reason,” he was the moral ideal in Harper Lee’s wonderful novel. It is obvious we’ve never met, because to the best of my knowledge, no one who has ever met me has subsequently compared me to the spectacular, fictional Mr. Finch. However, I do believe that the current situation, and much of life, is well served by a combination of reason and moral ideals.

  I don’t believe that I or anyone else has any right to stand above, or need stand below, any other human being. Allowing that you “have approached every person with dignity and respect for over 35 years,” my hat’s off to you. That is a level of perfection toward which I aspire, and have fallen short.

  Robert Felner is who he is. Don’t portray him as more or less. Hitler caused the murder of over 8,000,000 people. Through war and its ravages, he caused the death of at least 20,000,000 more human beings. On an evil scale of one to a million, with Hitler at a million, Felner couldn’t get out of single digits.

  Robert Felner is gone. He is gone from Yale, Illinois, Auburn, Rhode Island, and now Louisville. He is gone from Wisconsin before even arriving. What remains for the rest of us is to make sense of our histories, of our lives, and to move forward. We will not move forward without acknowledging the legitimate pains of our past, and so we should do that hard work. Hopefully we have tried to shelter one another from a range of storms in the past, and hopefully we will do so in the future. We should not forget of deny the past. But we probably should consider whether a state-wide—and, apparently, nationwide—news and politics blog is the most-likely-to-be-healing place for us while looking to our future. In making the choices of locations for our working through, I would offer that we, like Yale, Illinois, Auburn, and Rhode Island, will need to find ways to move forward now that Robert Felner is gone.

  Let the law enforcement officials do their public work. Let them grind exceedingly fine. Let the fourth estate have their due—and my hat’s off to PageOneKentucky.com for much of it’s work. Let all of us, students, faculty, administrators, and the larger community heal. And also remember that those students, faculty, administrators and the larger university community have a future toward which we must build. If there were a real Atticus Finch, he would ask no more, and no less.

• 20 ed // Jul 7, 2008 at 9:03 am

  Looking Forward,

  Well said, Sir. I suspect that most posters on this and other sites would agree with your “Looking Forward” philosophy of healing and moving on.

  That said, we can’t ignore the reality that healing is a process, and not a state we simply wake up one morning having arrived at. I am convinced that what we are seeing in these posts are the early stages of that process. We simply need to vent our anger at what he’s done to many of us. Pretty or not, it’s just the way it is.

  Will it continue? In varying degrees I think it will. As the investigation moves ahead without many details available, I would expect fewer posts. If charged, I can only imagine what will take place on these sites. If he is found guilty, I expect a verbal block party. If no charges are ever brought, his victims will simply have to take whatever solace they can in the fact that his professional life is over and his karma has finally come full circle to bite him in the ass.

  Only then will Felner be “gone” for the folks whose lives he’s impacted so significantly. Not quite yet, as you suggest. And THEN the healing will move more toward what you suggest. Not before, though.

  I know it’s not pretty. I know many comments feel boderline uncivilized. I know it’s shocking and unsettling to think these words, thoughts and feelings are coming from (in many cases) educated and professional adults. I recognize all of that.

  Yet, if you had personally experienced his capacity for ugliness without conscience, you would simply “get it”. In no way am I trying to invalidate your response. Not at all. I have come to respect you through your thoughts. However (mainly because you did not answer my question) it’s likely you have not been victimized by him. Lucky you. If that’s true, then I’m sure you would agree that you may lack a certain (and vital) perspective in the matter. Not a criticism, Sir, simply an observation.

  And, yes!, pageonekentucky has done a fabulous job of reporting this…and I’m sure they will continue!!!

  Stay well.

• 21 WC // Jul 7, 2008 at 2:57 pm

  Looking Forward and Ed,

  You two have met.

• 22 ed // Jul 7, 2008 at 3:18 pm

  Not that I’m aware of, WC. And what makes you say that?

• 23 WC // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:07 pm

  Ok, maybe you have not formally met. But you know him. He knows you. I know you were not around much, but your presence was felt. Er, shall I say, your absence was felt. Anyway, you’ve been in meetings with him, at least on a couple of occasions. That ‘tone’ you noted in his reprimand of all of us? Does that not give you a clue?

• 24 ed // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:20 pm

  Honestly, WC, I’m not whoever you think I am. And, again honestly, I have no idea who Looking Forward is. I’m about 2,000 miles away from you folks, and have never been to Kentucky. But, it sure sounds like you know him….reprimand and all!!!

• 25 WC // Jul 7, 2008 at 8:01 pm

  OK. Oops.

  :)

• 26 Auburn grad // Jul 7, 2008 at 8:32 pm

  This series of posts clearly illustrates one of the problems with Dr. Robert Felner. This is a man who divides people. He creates an environment of paranoia, distrust, and fear in those who don’t agree with him or who don’t defer to him. For those who he likes or who have something he wants, he can be charming and interesting.
  It would be nice to think that Dr. Felner will recognize the role he has played in creating his current circumstances. However, after interacting with him for several years (I was a graduate student) I have no reason to believe that he will see that he has done anyting inappropriately. At the end of all of the investigations, he will believe -as will those who defend him - that he has been misunderstood and mistreated by a system that did not appreciate his brillance.
  The best way to deal with Dr. Felner is to stay as far away from him as is possible. This is what I have done for the past 20 years and have been much happier as a result.

• 27 Relieved // Jul 8, 2008 at 12:11 pm

  ed, you write with such sensitivity about how it feels to be in the middle of this, that it makes sense that some of us would think you are.

  Looking Forward, although much of what ed writes is right on the mark, I don’t agree with the comparison to Atticus Finch (one of my heroes - and perhaps ed suggests it with tongue-in-cheek). I would wager that you are part of administration, probably at the College level. Your rhetoric of moving forward smacks of the present party line among administration. “Let’s move forward and not look too closely at the past lest some of us be held responsible for letting Dr. Felner wreck havoc on his fellow human beings.”

  It’s all well and good to talk about the University progressing in our mission to become a major research university (?!), but to some, that goal is not worth achieving at all costs. Perhaps success, as measured by being ahead of everyone else in whatever we do, is what has gotten our planet in trouble. It’s mind- boggling that we may be destroying a whole planet in our quests for success, achievement, moving forward (or whatever you might call it). In my mind, it’s because we value/define success as beating others at their own/our game rather than as taking care of each other while we move forward in the interests of each other (social justice as Felner liked to call it!).

  As some have noted, it may be cathartic to air our hurts on this blog, but, sadly, UofL appears to be moving ahead with no further thought to what Felner has left in his wake. (They managed to pass him off to Wisconsin before turning him in and now have erased him from the website.) Those who helped him are still in power, and those who aren’t will need to heal away from the University.

• 28 ed // Jul 8, 2008 at 1:11 pm

  Relieved,

  Although I am not involved in any way with what’s going on now, I have certainly had some very ugly involvement with Felner. I know him personally to be everything everyone here has said he is, and much much more. He is the lowest form of life on the planet.

  Atticus is most certainly one of my biggest heroes, as well, and I believe “Mockingbird” to be the greatest novel ever written. If I misused Atticus in my posting, to me it’s nothing short of blaspheme!! For what it’s worth, my intention at the time was to say that Looking Forward’s plea for level headed reason had an Atticus feel to it. As you know, I go on to tell him that it’s just not that simple.

  It’s funny you should say Looking Forward is administration. After his second posting, I got the exact same feeling. If so, I’m sure that his (and all U of L administration’s) goal is to put this as far behind them as possible…as fast as possible. Not sure I blame them. But…again…it’s just not that simple.

  I suspect Felner and his karma are on a collision course, and I hope the explosion is akin to a supernova.

  For anyone who has had more than a passing aquaintance with him, this is like Christmas in July.

• 29 ed // Jul 8, 2008 at 2:01 pm

  To all U of L,

  In rereading these and other posts on the topic, it occurred to me that my laser beam focus on the good doctor kept me from seeing all the good people at the University who have been…and will be…hurt by this scandal.

  I am thousands of miles away, and have never been to U of L…and probably never will be. Still, that doesn’t prohibit me from feeling very sorry for what you all must be experiencing. I’m sure that devoted people brought Felner there with nothing but the best intentions for their school only to be blindsided by the reality of who he is. That’s very unfortunate…and sad.

  To say this will be a black eye for the school, is like saying lung cancer is just a cough. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but it’s true. Yet, it will pass. Let’s face it…everything passes in time. It just does. And, when a group of people have gone through a tragedy such as this together, they come out of it closer….better….stronger…more devoted…more sensitive….and the list goes on. The common horror they shared is a bond.

  Felner is just one little man who may have done a horrible thing. Probably many horrible things. As many of you know, I joyously await details of his almost certain doom…and I revel in his predicament daily. HIS predicament….not yours. In the end, he won’t amount to a piss hole in the snow (and for many, he already doesn’t). You, on the other hand, have your lives before you.

  Do not mistake this for a “let’s put it all behind us” posting. Not a chance. Not yet. Instead, I just wanted to empathize with all the good, hard working and well intentioned people who are being scarred by the actions of one.

  Hold your heads high, and hold them proudly. It will be your strength of character…and NOT Robert Felner….that will define U of L’s future.

• 30 Looking Forward // Jul 8, 2008 at 8:20 pm

  Relieved,
  Well, if it is any relief to you, note that I didn’t agree with the Atticus Finch comparison in the first place. Its a little fiscally frustrating that we can’t place bets over a blog, or I could take one and make money on your supposition of my position.

  Ed, I’m a little sorry to say that you too were mistaken. A rather enjoyed your presumption of a more fiscally elevated status for me. I saw Felner from a range of positions over more than a decade. . But it doesn’t matter. We need to do a few things, and I think we mostly agree on them.

  1. We need to heal. This will take time. People, sometimes myself and often my friends included, have been hurt. It is true that Felner hurt some people, and equally true that we often hurt each other. Very few of us have acted with consistent wisdom and grace, and certainly I haven’t batted 1.000 on either front. OK, we’re human. Suggestion: on top of binding our wounds and looking after each other, some of the time we should celebrate our humanity.

  Our disagreement is not on those two points, but rather on whether a public policy blog is the vehicle most likely to promote healing and least likely to harm our insitution after we’ve healed. I think it is not. I think it is better suited to the spread of facts and the debate of policy issues. It may be well suited to facilitating the actions of the legal system, I don’t know. Pageonekentucky.com certainly seems skilled at nudjing the CJ forward, and that’s good.

  2. We need to remember that our institution had goals before Felner arrived, and those goals are essentially unchanged post-Felner. Those goals are laudable and we can help achieve them. They were never intended to be achieved “at all costs,” but rather within the range of we mere mortals.

  The sooner we stop speculating about the nature of one another’s psychologies or positions, the sooner we stop lambasting one another (and note the caution from Auburn grad here), the sooner we can move forward toward emotional healing and joy, and toward the achievement of better educations for Kentucky’s youth.

  I, and the substantial majority of our college’s strong faculty, choose to try. If we succeed Louisivlle, Kentucky, and America will have more competent teachers. We’ll have more competent counselors and administrators, and a richer research base from which others may draw. That’s all I’ve been tryingto say.

  Take gentle care, folks.

• 31 WC // Jul 9, 2008 at 7:16 am

  Well, LF, it is not ALL you wanted to say in this stream. You also wanted to be sure to point out the “excellent” people (gee, who might that include?) Felner hired and to take one last stab at Pedro, a man who went on to become an Endowed Chair at the University of Georgia. The only way you could do that was to attack the grammar and spelling in a SIGNED draft letter to the provost.

• 32 Looking Forward // Jul 9, 2008 at 7:43 am

  WC,
  You are correct that I did not mention that gentleman. Had you taken the time, you could have listed thousands of others I didn’t mention or criticize. As I have said repeatedly over several years, may Pedro enjoy his elevated status. May he be the happiest, most fulfilled man in Georgia.

• 33 ed // Jul 9, 2008 at 12:39 pm

  Looking Forward,

  I won’t try to say that some of your points aren’t valid. In their time…and in their place….they probably are. What I will say, and have said in different ways in both my postings to you, is that it becomes increasingly clear to me that you have never been a victim of Felner. He obviously has never released his rage on you, never demeaned you, never treated you in ways we wouldn’t treat animals, and certainly has not altered the course of your life. You’ve just never been in his crosshairs. It’s just not possible.

  For if you had, you would most certainly not be speaking in the platitudes you do. You would simply not be able to paint the whole healing scenario with such a broad (and dare I say insensitive) brush. And you would never question the use of this site for, or the validity of, people venting pure anger. You just wouldn’t. It’s that simple.

  We are all entitled to our opinions. That’s part of what makes America great. Even those without a bullet in them can stand next to the wounded and not recognize their pain in any meaningful way. And, Sir, that’s what it feels to me you are doing. And, I suspect, others feel that way as well.

  I have no clue who you are, though it seems others may. If, as they suspect, you are in any position of leadership at the University I would caution you to rethink what you are doing here. If they are right, and you continue to ignore some of the dirty realities here….and continue to speak in ways that indicate no acknowledgement of what they really feel now or what they’re experiences with Felner meant to them, where does that leave you when the REAL healing begins? This dust will settle in time. When it does, do you think any of these folks will be inclined to want to follow you on that path of healing? I would say no. Or, more precisely, I know I would not.

  You said in an earlier post that you strive to treat each person with dignity and respect, but fear you have fallen short in that area. This might be a good time and place to re-energize those efforts and goals.

  All of it certainly involves your choices. Choices of how you relate to these folks during this ugly time, and choices of how you lead.

  Be that as it may, it seems we may have to agree to disagree on what this blog site is really for, and what path each of us needs to take in dealing with this.

• 34 Elaine // Jul 9, 2008 at 12:44 pm

  As for the question of whether Felner would fabricate attacks on his property to garner sympathy, let me remind you that, at the U of Illnois, he told everyone he had cancer–which he did not.

• 35 ed // Jul 9, 2008 at 1:00 pm

  He actually even used that line on (at least) two of his former wives (that I’m personally aware of). “I have cancer, and it’s my dying wish to marry you.”

  Imagine that?

• 36 Looking Forward // Jul 9, 2008 at 4:56 pm

  Ed,
  You are mistaken about my history with Felner. I don’t care to go into it on a blog, but you are mistaken.

  What I believe is that all of us must find ways to heal. We must all find ways to to forgive others for what they may have done, and to forgive ourselves for getting snuckered into the situation that produced the hurt. We don’t have to–and shouldn’t–forget: that opens us up to repeated pain; but forgiveness is the blessing that we give largely to ourselves. In fact we should try to look at situations frankly and learn so as to to better next time. Forgiveness allows us to move on, personally and professionally.

  We cannot change the past. We can make peace with our own mistakes and try very hard not to repeat them.

  For me, I’m now done with blogging, and am going to move forward into the post-Felner phase of my life. Like most people, I am blessed with much to do.

  I wish you the best, Ed. Take gentle care.

• 37 RI // Jul 9, 2008 at 7:25 pm

  Felner always said “I am a GED.” But I highly doubt it. He said he got his GED in 1968 and graduated from UConn in 1972.
  http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=584964671

• 38 IntrestingReading // Jul 12, 2008 at 4:07 am

  Based on this blog, U of L has a lot of bright, well written people. I’m sure they will do well in the post-Fellner era.

• 39 Markmyword // Jul 12, 2008 at 12:58 pm

  Looking Forward,
  You are not that innocent as you claim. As Ed pointed, you seem like part of Felner’s team, now trying to preach peace. Do not speak from both sdies of your mouth.

• 40 Keith // Aug 9, 2008 at 6:07 am

  Once he got in trouble at Auburn, Felner then claimed someone painted a swastika on his garage door. When I was contacted to track this down, I asked whether he had paint on his hands.

  Oddly, nothing was heard, said or done about it afterward, other than the supposed defacement washed and painted over.

  The lies dripped from his lips constantly. The women were prey.

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