The rise and fall of Richard Lariviere, University of Oregon president, fired on Monday | OregonLive.com

The rise and fall of Richard Lariviere, University of Oregon president, fired on Monday | OregonLive.com:

The rise and fall of Richard Lariviere, University of Oregon president, fired on Monday

Published: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 10:00 PM Updated: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 10:02 PM

By Bill Graves, The Oregonian
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View full sizeFaith Cathcart, The OregonianUniversity of Oregon Foundation Trustee Janice Monti is consoled by Richard Lariviere after the State Board of Higher Education's abrupt decision to oust the UO president.

Richard Lariviere had captured the imagination of the University of Oregon community. The new president proposed to govern UO with an independent board and to build a sustainable financial plan. He found a way to raise pay for nearly a third of faculty and administrators. Fall enrollment hit 24,447 students, a record. Incoming freshman were the smartest ever.

"We're on fire," Janice Monti, UO Foundation trustee, told the State Board of Higher Education last Monday.

Minutes later, the board voted unanimously to fire Lariviere. He had 30 days to pack.

Lariviere, the first in his working class Iowa family to attend college, expressed a deep commitment to affordable public higher education. "I owe everything I have to the remarkable power of education," said the Sanskrit scholar. He saw