Friday, February 05, 1999
Taft appoints black man to UC board
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Under pressure from local black leaders, Gov. Bob Taft today will appoint a black businessman to the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees.
Phillip R. Cox, president of Cox Financial Corp. and the first black member of the Cincinnati Business Committee (CBC), will add a minority voice to a powerful and prestigious board that has lacked a black trustee since Dr. O'dell Owens left in January 1998.
Mr. Cox, an independent from Lebanon, replaces Cincinnati Democrat George Strike on the UC board. His term will end in January 2008.
In an interview earlier this week, Mr. Cox said he hoped he was in the running for the post because Mr. Taft admired his business acumen.
“I think it's unfortunate that this appointment has been wrapped up in racial politics,” said Mr. Cox, who also serves on the boards of Cinergy, Cincinnati Bell and BDM International Inc. “I have far more to offer than my race.”
It is difficult to avoid politics — racial or otherwise — when it comes to appointments the governor makes to university boards.
Former Gov. George Voinovich was sharply criticized by black leaders last year after he appointed former Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Mike Allen, who is white, to replace Dr. Owens.
Mr. Voinovich, now a U.S. senator, chose Mr. Allen over a minority woman — Theresa Henderson, Washburn Elementary School principal and wife of Wilberforce University's president, John Henderson.
The appointment drew complaints from community leaders, who said the 34,000-student school lacks black leaders, although 12 percent of UC students are African-American.
Scott Milburn, Mr. Taft's
spokesman, declined to comment on the dispute Thursday night.
Some local black leaders had suggested Mr. Taft appoint basketball legend Oscar Robertson to the post. But Mr. Robertson, a UC alum, said he had not been contacted by the Taft administration.
Advocates of racial and gender diversity contend students and faculty need to see women and minorities on boards to provide different perspectives and to assure them that school leaders truly understand minority issues.
“I'm glad to see the governor has recognized the need for diversity on that board,” said State Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati. “I hope this is a sign his administration will recognize the need for diversity in other areas as well.”
Among other things, university trustees oversee multimillion-dollar budgets, have the final say on who gets tenure and help set policies on everything from sexual harassment to student enrollment.
Four-year universities are led by nine voting trustees appointed for nine-year terms by the governor. Terms are staggered so one vacancy occurs every year on each board.
The only criteria governors are required to follow in selecting trust ees is that some come from the region where the university is located. UC, for example, requires that five of its trustees live in Cincinnati.
With Mr. Cox's appointment, voting members of the UC board include six white men, an Asian-American man, an African-American man and a white woman.
Mr. Cox, a graduate of Xavier University, is married and has five children. For the past 23 years, he has been president and chief executive officer of Cox Financial Corp., a downtown Cincinnati investment advisory firm.
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