Last month when the well-liked president of the University of North Texas, Gretchen Bataille, abruptly resigned, no one really knew why. That's kind of a problem.
It's hard not to speculate in the absence of facts, and with UNT students in an uproar over the popular president's departure, the cone of silence could not stand forever.
Fortunately, Dallas Morning News reporters Holly Hacker and Candace Carlisle sorted through a treasure trove of documents, obtained through an public records request, that sheds light on why Bataille packed her bags. Turns out, Bataille and Jackson were mired in a bureaucratic power struggle over who was the Big Man/Woman on Campus. The two disagreed on everything from IT issues to tuition increases, while Jackson was prone to lecturingBataille as if she were a rebellious teenager.
"You are not authorized to relocate any of UNT's activities or course activities... until all of the necessary information about your plans has been provided to the System and you have received my written approval," he wrote her in a letter on Jan. 29.
Ouch.
In the story, Bataille doesn't dispute that there was tension between her and Jackson: "Communication is a two-way street, and it takes two people to communicate."
For his part, Jackson, who came to UNT with no experience in higher education, merely offered a statement acknowledging that the two had irreconcilable differences.
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