Did letter cost USU chief a job?

An anonymous letter and an outdated resume have cast a cloud over the search for a new president at the University of Tennessee, where Utah State University President Kermit Hall was a finalist last month.

Hall and American Council on Education lawyer Sheldon Steinbach characterize the search, which ended with John D. Petersen being named UT president on April 21, as "tainted" and "flawed."

Negative information about "several" of the final six candidates, including Hall, was submitted anonymously to key people involved in the search. Hall didn't find out about a secret letter about him until after Petersen was chosen.

Hall said the anonymous letter was sent to Tennessee media and the UT search committee. That letter portrayed Hall as being "in cahoots" with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is chairman of the UT Board of Trustees.

In a copy of the letter obtained by the Deseret Morning News, the first line reads, "It is well known among those close to the Bredesen administration in Nashville that Governor Bredesen has carefully orchestrated the appointment of Dr. Kermit Hall, current president of Utah State University, to be the next president of the University of Tennessee." The letter bears the name "UT Savior" at the end.

"I don't have any idea who wrote the letter," Hall said. Nor could he imagine why someone would want to tarnish his name.

The letter suggests a "Mormon connection" between Hall and Gordon Gee, who was president at Ohio State University when Hall was dean over arts and sciences there. It's believed Gee, who is Mormon, was influential in the UT search.

Gee, now chancellor of the private Vanderbilt University in Nashville, is originally from Vernal and was the USU commencement speaker last year.

Hall said he's a Presbyterian. Further, he was critical of the letter not being brought to his attention sooner.

"I didn't think anybody even saw it," UT search executive director Margaret Perry said of the letter. She helped organize the search but did not take part in the final voting process, in which Hall finished second.

Hall didn't see the letter until he found a copy on his desk when he returned to USU. "Which meant that I never had the opportunity to defend myself publicly against a smear that was clearly being orchestrated privately," he said.