Events foretold Reed’s dismissal
By Patrick Kerkstra
Daily Bruin Staff
Since 1981, Jason Reed has held sway over the students’
association, checked only by an always changing and often
inexperienced student majority board of directors.
For 14 years, Reed was responsible for what became an $80
million organization, encompassing many familiar campus
institutions.
Reed displayed remarkable resilience amid controversy from his
earliest days as executive director.
Even his selection as chief executive of the association was
controversial. The board that year debated into the early morning
over the five candidates vying for the position of executive
director.
He weathered the last four years of consistently poor financial
performance, without drawing serious public criticism from the
board until recently.
But on Sunday afternoon, the association’s board altered the
familiar path of Reed’s career and removed him from his third floor
office in Kerckhoff Hall.
The magnitude of this year’s financial crisis, combined with
organizational paralysis and mounting evidence of management’s
failure to inform the board of coming losses, proved too much even
for Reed’s resilient nature.
The decision shocked association insiders. Even Reed said the
board’s action surprised him.
But the writing was on the wall, both figuratively and
literally.
An April 17 letter to the Daily Bruin editor calling for Reed’s
dismissal was posted on a wall in the graduate students’
association office for a week before the board announced its
decision to place Reed on administrative leave Monday. The office
is shared by three of the more influential members on the board of
directors, including the board’s chair, Tim Beasley.
In an interview two weeks ago, board member Tamara Carr said the
board was planning "serious action soon."
There are also reports that board members became increasingly
convinced of Reed’s knowledge about October predictions of a
possible $1.8 million loss that was not told to the board until
four months later.
For almost a month, no board members would confirm that any
association employee had predicted such losses in October.
Then earlier this month, board chair Beasley confirmed their
existence.
"The projections (of the losses) existed. They existed and we
should have been told about them immediately," he said.
Immediately after they were told of the association’s possible
losses, the board hired the Kibel Green consulting firm to review
the organization. For a month the consultants conducted interviews,
observed management and considered solutions to the association’s
crisis.
On March 10, Kibel Green presented the findings to the board in
a closed meeting. For 11 hours the board discussed the report, and
at one point requested that Reed leave the room.
Despite these indications of the board’s dissatisfaction with
Reed, their decision surprised most of the crowd at Monday’s
employee meeting.
But Tim Bayley, former director of the student store, said he
told Reed to resign in February, just as evidence was surfacing
that Reed had not informed the board of the October
predictions.
"I regret that Jason Reed did not take my advice and enter his
resignation on Feb. 6, 1995, when I advised him it was in his best
interest to do so," Bayley said.
Bayley’s experiences with Reed in the past year have been
difficult. Earlier this year, Bayley was placed on administrative
leave, and soon after, terminated by Reed.
Now Reed finds himself on administrative leave, knowing the
board intends to terminate him.
"All I can do now is just consider what my next step will be,"
Reed said.