Congressman Bill Johnson to Youngstown State University?

Here is the front-page headline from this morning’s Wheeling Intelligencer:

Johnson Offered Top Post At YSU

When I first saw the headline, I wondered who “Johnson” might be. Imagine my surprise when I read further -- it was local Ohio congressman Bill Johnson!

Okay, Johnson has been a frequent recipient of favorable coverage from our local Ogden newspapers and so I knew that I had written about him. I then checked Bill Johnson in the Wheeling Alternative’s index. There, I found a number of blog articles about the Intelligencer's coverage of the congressman’s speeches. This post about “Bill Johnson Addresses High School Students,” from the front page of the March 14, 2017, Wheeling Intelligencer, is my personal favorite. From that blog post:

Some of the important points found in the story include Johnson's personal history:

“We actually farmed with mules up until I was 13 years old. We had no indoor plumbing. Everything we did every day was a matter of survival,” said Johnson, adding that even the mule was borrowed from a neighbor.

And a short lecture on European government:

"We’re not like the great nations of Europe, where the president can abolish the legislature and resign and say, ‘We’re going to rewrite the constitution and we’re going to start all over again.’
(Yes, Europe is known for its banana republics.)

Johnson also included some memorable metaphors in his speech:

We’re a pass/fail system. We either pass together, all of us, or we fail together, all of us.

And:
There is no exit ramp in the Constitution of the United States. Whether we like our president or not, we put up with them for four to eight years.

This from the man who may be the next president of Youngstown State University.

More importantly, the morning paper also tells us:

1. Johnson has no background in higher education. Nor has he worked in any aspect of education.
2. The finalists for the position were never announced to the public.
3. There was no input from faculty, staff, or students.
   

Note -- #2 and #3 are standard operating procedures in conducting a university search. Given Bill Johnson’s lack of appropriate credentials and the lack of transparency in the process, the Board of Trustees’ actions need to be reversed. Unfortunately, it won’t come from the Ohio governor:

DeWine supports Congressman Bill Johnson for Youngstown State University presidency#LiveOnNews9
FULL STORY: https://t.co/Xd3Tmu7y7v
Johnson has not said he'll accept an offer

— WTOV NEWS9 (@WTOV9) November 17, 2023

Joe Manchin: President of WVU?

Some readers may remember that rumor being floated two months ago. Here is the Morgantown Dominion-Post:

Manchin, WVU respond to speculation about the senator becoming next WVU president - by not addressing the question

And from Business Insider:

Allies of Joe Manchin believe the West Virginia Democrat could retire from the Senate to lead his alma mater, West Virginia University

Politicians? This is the best that we can do?