CSUN’s Wilson Is Passed Over for Job

As the fall term began Monday, Cal State Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson spent the morning as a finalist for the presidency of Wayne State University and something of a lame duck on her campus.

By midafternoon, Wayne State’s Board of Governors had chosen a New Jersey educator to head the Detroit university, and Wilson was pledging to stay put.

“There’s a sense of personal relief, in a way,” Wilson said minutes after learning she had been passed over. “I’ve had . . . mixed feelings about leaving here.”

The job opening at Wayne State provided “a unique set of circumstances, both personal and professional,” Wilson said. She had hoped to return to Detroit, where she and her husband, Louis Fair Jr., spent five years and have many friends. Wilson, 56, was also looking forward to leading a research university, especially one located in urban Detroit.

But with that post no longer open, Wilson said, “I’m here for the duration, as they say.”

Abiding by Michigan open meeting laws, the eight Wayne State board members cast their votes at a public hearing Monday afternoon, unanimously selecting Irvin Reid, president of the 13,000-student Montclair State University. Reid will succeed David Adamany, who has led Wayne State for 15 years and announced last December his intention to resign.

In 1992, Wilson left her position as chancellor at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, a Detroit suburb, to take over at CSUN. She became one of a handful of African American women to lead a large U.S. university.

Just 18 months into her tenure, the Northridge earthquake struck. With its epicenter located virtually beneath the campus, the quake caused $321 million in damage on the campus in a matter of seconds.

The temblor, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, cast a national spotlight on Wilson. And she flourished, reopening the university just a month later and earning a national reputation as an assertive yet personable pitchwoman for the university, as well as a seemingly tireless proponent of public higher education.

Although Wilson was frequently courted for other education jobs--in addition, rumors abounded in 1992 of an imminent appointment from President Clinton--she said she had not allowed herself to be nominated for any other position.

Then Wayne State came knocking earlier this year. The post would have offered Wilson the chance to head a research university with a budget more than twice as large as CSUN. The Detroit campus also has many of the educational challenges that intrigue her, including racial diversity and continuing education for adults.

Wilson, who has spent her career in school administration, was not initially considered a front-runner among the five finalists, according to Wayne State sources. And she perturbed some members of Wayne State’s search committee when she disclosed her candidacy to news reporters a day before the university announced all five names.

But when Wilson visited the campus for interviews in July, her candor about tense relations between faculty and the administration at Wayne State and other school issues seemed to boost her profile considerably, sources said.

“There were several [board members] who had her among their top two favorites, or top three favorites,” said one Wayne State employee, who asked not to be identified.

As each of the board members spoke Monday, however, it soon became clear that the front-runner was Reid, a 30-year veteran educator who served as dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before taking over at Montclair State.

“I’m happy for Wayne State that the board was able to find a consensus on a candidate because that’s important for the new president,” Wilson said.

While Wilson admitted to mixed feelings over the outcome, reaction locally was also mixed.

Sports fans had been grumbling about Wilson since she cut four men’s sports--baseball, soccer, swimming and volleyball--because of budget constraints and to comply with gender-equity laws.

Those teams were later reinstated for a year with the help of a state bailout and private donations.

Barry Munitz, chancellor of the Cal State system, was on vacation Monday, but had prepared a statement in the event she was not selected for the job.

“Wayne State’s loss is CSU’s gain,” Munitz said.

CSUN student body President Bradley Marsh said he’d “have been pleased either way. It’s always nice to have a change, [but] Blenda Wilson has been a good president.”