At some point last fall, Ed Hansen apparently had seen enough of losing Husky football, so on Oct. 30, the former mayor of Everett and University of Washington alum sent an e-mail to the school’s president, Mark Emmert.
The contents of that and other e-mails to Emmert — released to The Herald by the university on Thursday — show the former Everett politician, lawyer and co-founder of Frontier Bank encouraged Emmert to fire head coach Tyrone Willingham and athletic director Todd Turner and offered the school incentives to do so.
Hansen did not return phone messages left by The Herald on Thursday.
In the Oct. 30 e-mail, Hansen, a 1964 graduate of Washington and a 1966 graduate of the UW Law School, said he had planned to donate money to the school, but that “I reluctantly have decided to defer establishing the law school scholarship until Ty Willingham is replaced as Husky football coach. I will not contribute to stadium improvements either, as long as Ty Willingham is Husky coach.”
Willingham has posted an 11-25 record in three seasons as the Huskies’ head coach, and his future with the team was the subject of much speculation after Washington finished the 2007 season 4-9. The school announced last month that Willingham would be back for a fourth season.
In the Oct. 30 e-mail, Hansen went on to say that his commitment to scholarships at the proposed UW Everett branch campus would not be affected by the coaching situation.
That e-mail was followed by two others, the last of which, dated Nov. 29, was more blunt, with Hansen pledging $100,000 for the law school if Willingham was fired, and another $100,000 if Turner also was terminated.
Emmert said he did not recall seeing the e-mails.
“I don’t remember it,” Emmert said. “I got hundreds and hundreds of e-mails. I tried to read most of them, but I don’t remember that one, and I’m sure I would have had I seen it.”
Emmert said it is normal to have boosters threaten to withhold donations or cancel season tickets for various reasons, but that letters such as Hansen’s are unusual.
“That’s very rare, very uncommon,” Emmert said. “It’s not very common at all. We have very little of that direct kind of input. The fact that Mr. Hansen wants to support the law school is something that’s admirable, and that’s terrific, but obviously I don’t make personnel decisions around those kinds of contributions, whether they’re contributions to athletics or to anything else in the university. You simply have to separate out philanthropy from personnel and other kinds of policy decisions.”
Emmert said that while he appreciates feedback from Washington fans, he does not let input such as Hansen’s influence who he hires or fires.
“You simply cannot allow that kind of e-mail to have an impact on your decisions,” he said. “That would be a simply wrong thing to do.”
Emmert added that it’s not just in athletics that donors sometimes want to have influence.
“It’s not uncommon that someone will say, ‘Well, I want to endow a chair in the history department, but by the way, I want to be the one to pick the professor,’” he said. “Well, we don’t allow that.”
Almost a month after writing his first e-mail, Hansen sent another e-mail to Emmert, saying “I now believe a change in the leadership of the athletic department is necessary, also.”
In that Nov. 25 e-mail, Hansen said that “I no longer wear my Husky colors in public because of the razzing and embarrassment which follows. And I have attended only one Husky game this year because I can not stand to see the Huskies lose.”
It was Hansen’s final e-mail, dated Nov. 29, that said, “I am (a) 1966 graduate of the UW Law School who has had some success and last September I discussed with acting law school dean Gregory Hicks the need for law school scholarship funds. By this letter I hereby pledge to contribute a minimum of $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Ty Willingham as football coach. In addition, I hereby pledge a second $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, condition upon the termination of Todd Turner as athletic director.
“Also, I do not intend to contribute any further funds to the athletic department as long as these two gentlemen are employed by the University.”
So with Turner leaving — he announced his resignation in December — should Washington expect $100,000 from Hansen? Emmert isn’t sure, but said the school would happily take donations from Hansen if it was given for the right reason.
“If Mr. Hansen wants to make a donation to student scholarships because that’s the right thing to do for the law school, then we’d certainly be happy to have that support for the law school,” Emmert said. “But it has to be with a very clear understanding that this has absolutely nothing to do with any personnel decisions that I’ve made.”
Buzz Rodland, owner and president of Rodland Toyota in Everett and a man who has been involved in fundraising campaigns for Husky athletics, said the pressure put on university officials is a “sad fact of life.” But he stopped short of criticizing Hansen, noting that the former Everett mayor, who was first elected in 1993 and served until 2002, has done many good things for the city and the University of Washington.
“Ed Hansen is a class guy, and whatever he did, he did for his love for the University of Washington and the Huskies,” Rodland said.
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