LDS group for blacks founded under direction of Harold B. Lee

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by BlueK

Merrill Bateman, IMO, is a little misunderstood by BYU fans. Was he an effective president of BYU? I guess there are many who might give examples as to why he wasn't. I'm not close enough to the situation to judge that. And I'm personally not a fan of what happened to the athletic program under his watch. He probably has some micromanaging tendencies in his leadership style. However, he was my stake president for many years while growing up in Provo and I feel like I know him better as a person than the average joe critic. I've also heard his stories about the establishment of the Genesis group as well as when the church sent him to Africa after 1978. It would be hard after hearing him speak about his experiences there to even remotely conclude he's racist.

Bateman's best efforts were in raising money for the school. He did that successfully. He did alienate many of the professors. That is harmful.

I can't see him effectively managing people, but I could be wrong, especially in a sensitive area.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I'm just not a fan of Merrill Bateman as BYU president.

First off, he should have never been selected. I'm opposed to the mixing of academia with priesthood. So I suppose in our culture, we shouldn't blame Bateman for accepting what probably felt like a calling.

He just plain wasn't qualified. Why would we expect an unqualified person to do a bangup job? We shouldn't.

But who am I? I'm a whacko that thinks the cost of tuition should be increased x5. So don't listen to me.

There is probably a lot of truth in that. It takes more than being a successful businessman to run a university. I don't believe Elder Bateman's business background involved running anything like a university.

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Bateman's best efforts were in raising money for the school. He did that successfully. He did alienate many of the professors. That is harmful.

I can't see him effectively managing people, but I could be wrong, especially in a sensitive area.

Church leadership is different. He was an effective stake president and strangely enough I never had the impression of him being a micromanager until he was at BYU. It really didn't seem like he approached his church callings that way, but then again I was just a youth then and only saw him as a diligent, caring spiritual leader and not someone I reported to. He's an entrepreneur, so I'm not surprised to hear he raised money successfully and struggled in other areas not related to that experience.