President Blaine Brownell's wife, Mardi, denied Wednesday thather husband traveled to Nepal or spoke in Korea, contradictingstatements supporting the rumor that the president probably won'treturn next year.
Mardi Brownell wouldn't comment on rumors concerning herhusband's future at Ball State.
"There are a lot of things I would like to say, but it wouldn'tbe appropriate," Mardi Brownell said.
An unnamed source said in Wednesday's Star Press that BlaineBrownell has traveled twice as much as Worthen. The source said hevisited places, including Nepal, with few, if any, ties toalumni.
That's wrong, according to Mardi Brownell.
The Star Press also reported that the president was scheduled togive the keynote address at a conference in Korea.
Mardi Brownell, however, said her husband traveled toIndianapolis--not Korea--to deliver the address. He spoke via ateleconference from the office of Indiana Higher EducationTelecommunications Services.
"I think it's really too bad for the university, and it's reallysad," Mardi Brownell said.
Rumors have spread across campus and beyond this week about theboard's displeasure with the president.
Political-science professor Dan Reagan said he heard the rumorsin Muncie and in Indianapolis, but State Representative Tiny Adams,D-Muncie, and State Senator Allie Craycraft, D-Selma, said theyhave not heard fellow legislators discuss Blaine Brownell and theboard.
Both men said they first heard the rumors in the paper.
"I was really surprised to read that," Craycraft said. "Ithought everything was going well."
Since the rumors first started, the board has neither confirmednor denied the claims.
Tom DeWeese, the president of the board, said the board hasreviewed Blaine Brownell's four-year contract, which expires inJune, but he wouldn't comment further.
"I don't have anything to add at this point and time," DeWeesesaid. "We're not going to talk about personnel."
Trustee Greg Schenkel said, "I don't respond to rumors."
Trustee Ceola Digby-Berry wouldn't answer any questions.
The rest of the board could not be reached for comment.
The board's silence has sparked further speculation thattrustees no longer favor the president.
The same unnamed source who said the president traveled to Nepalalso told The Star Press that the trustees' silence sends "avery-powerful message."
Former President John Worthen, however, said the board keptsilent when rumors circulated about coaches' careers.
Sometimes the rumors were right; sometimes they were wrong,Worthen said.
History professor Anthony Edmonds, who cowrote "Ball StateUniversity: An Interpretive History," said he doesn't know whyanyone would suggest the board should comment. Contractnegotiations such as this, he said, are routine matters.
Blaine Brownell's administration is not the first presidentwhose fate was called into question.
In 1977, University Senate denounced then-president John Pruisin a no-confidence vote after a salary dispute. Senators hopedtheir resolution would get Pruis out of the president's office.
The trustees supported Pruis, but he announced shortly after thesenators' vote that he would leave the university.
Jerry Anderson replaced Pruis, but Anderson was fired about twoyears after he was hired.
Robert Bell replaced Anderson, and Worthen replaced Bell.
Worthen retired after 16 years in the president's office, andBlaine Brownell became Ball State's 12th president on July 1,2000.
Before coming to the university, Blaine Brownell was theexecutive director of the Center for International Programs andServices and professor of history at the University of Memphis.From 1990 to 1998, he worked as provost and vice president foracademic affairs at the University of North Texas in Denton.
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