Robert Hughes: Transparency not so good

Regarding the Oct. 17 news article “Fractured board holds emergency meeting”: The governor has not yet signed the bill that requires the UNC board to submit the names of the three finalist candidates for the position of president of UNC to the legislature, and I encourage the governor not to sign or to outright veto that bill.

Having the names of three candidates be public knowledge will preclude some highly qualified individuals from considering the presidency of UNC.

I envision what it would be like for the president of a smaller college, for example, to allow his or her name to be considered, to have that name publicized (as will surely happen), and then not be selected as the final candidate. I suspect there would be a loss of credibility or trust on the part of the candidate’s current board or institution.

I have seen something similar happen in other positions. The best one individual was able to do was to say that he was testing his “marketability.” When my odds are 33 percent of being selected, I would be quite hesitant to jeopardize my current position on the possibility I would be the final candidate.

I encourage the legislature to revisit this matter.

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Robert Hughes: Transparency not so good."