Had to happen. Democrat Joe White, challenging Sen. Gilbert Baker, Republican, comments on the controversy at UCA, first chastising him for silence on larger issues on campus but also commenting on our story about unusual housing practices at the college. On the jump.

And here, we’ll pick up the Board meeting, too. The meeting opened with testimonials to President Hardin from Conway business and government officials. The head of the faculty Senate repeated earlier criticism that Hardin’s actions on the self-written memo wouldn’t have been tolerated from a faculty member. A student praised Hardin’s openness. Barbara Anderson, a UCA official whose name was on the memo Hardin wrote and presented to the Board, said she didn’t disagree with most of what was written except for the portion about evading the FOI in not disclosing his deferred compensation. Then the Board went into executive session. 

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UPDATE: The Board reconvened in public and said no action would be taken. They said they’d meet again in September. Hmmm. An uneducated guess is that the Board is willing to give Hardin time to attempt to repair the self-inflicted damage. Clearly, both at the meeting and here on the blog, the friends he’s accumulated over the years, are rising to his defense.

Several trustees said after the meeting that they’d be listening very carefully to the faculty in the days ahead. Hardin has a meeting scheduled with the faculty Senate Aug. 28.

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