He noted a committee member's assertion that many citizens of the state of Tennessee do not understand the value of higher education, and that while legislators do understand, they also tend to vote in alignment with their less informed constituencies.Hm. Well done, John. Nothing like introducing yourself to almost 40,000 faculty and students by saying that their fellow Tennesseans don't grasp the importance of higher education. I see those alumni purses slamming shut already.
"The university must serve as a broker to bring more industry into the state," Petersen said. "Communication to the people of the state is also important in order to let them (people of Tennessee) know of the benefits of the university."
Nonetheless, I'm willing to give President Petersen the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he already knows not to sleep with the help or play home improvement with university funds. How much harm could he do?