22 | Loss of a Crucial Leader: Richard Lariviere

I never really paid much attention to UO President Richard Lariviere much until the shit hit the fan in the last week. He did say "howdy" to me once at a football game. And I love the man's sense of style. But after reading up, I'm truly sold on his vision for the Oregon University System (OUS). It's a vision of excellence the seven individual universities deserve.

It comes back to the idea of a brand. Brands should act as people. Currently the OUS demands that all seven institutions are the same brand and the same person, when it's obvious that they have major differences and needs. Lariviere called for the brand personas of each university to shine through and govern themselves in that light, guided by a common mission.

Politics aside, it's frustrating to watch our state government fail to relinquish any authority and fail to recognize that smaller individual brands certainly have the capability to live within larger ones. Look at every multinational in the world. Look at Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, etc. Look at the structure of the American government as defined in the Constitution. Large organizations with a narrowly focused and restricting mission ultimately fail. There doesn't exist a large enough market to justify such a specific goal applied so vastly. The mission needs to be guiding, not controlling.

Letting the universities live as individuals has significant benefits for the collective as well. For one, it mitigates risk and protects the others from the failures of one. If one university screws up - they all do - it doesn't bring down the others, because they are recognized as unique entities, not a group of conniving academic types. Negatives always outweigh positives in the public light. The OUS Board ought to remember this when deciding the fate of a public organization.

A declining institution needs bold leadership. Old ideas don't solve new problems. What the OUS really needs is top leadership as unafraid to challenge the status quo as Dr. Richard Lariviere. If not that, then an innovator such as he needs to be kept in the organization to vigilantly push the "radical" agenda, as unpopular as it may be with those in power. It's a shame that a state that prides itself on being progressive and thinking differently just ousted the figure fighting the hardest for a bold solution to the public education discussion.