departing reidel describes 'challenging' stint as uwindsor board chair
“it’s always been an interesting experience when you ch...
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university of windsor president robert gordon presents outgoing university board of governors chair helga reidel with a framed gift of appreciation during a meeting on tuesday, nov. 27, 2024, reidel's last as board chair.
trevor wilhelm
/
windsor star
after helping guide the university of windsor through a hectic period of challenges and controversies, helga reidel chaired her last board of governors meeting this week. reidel’s scheduled two-year term concluded with the board’s monthly meeting on tuesday.
“it’s always been an interesting experience when you chair a board,” reidel told the star. “i had some wonderful times and also some challenging times in the last six months.
“but still a learning experience, and everyone on the board worked together to try to resolve all the issues. it was overall a good experience and i’m glad i did it.”
university president robert gordon presented reidel with a gift of appreciation and thanked her for her “incredible leadership.”
“she has been a great mentor, supporter, and leader for us during a challenging time for our institution,” gordon said during the meeting.
reidel will still attend meetings in the role of past-chair.
previous board vice-chair carolyn brown, also chief operations officer for the gordie howe international bridge, will take reidel’s seat at the head of the table.
the challenging times reidel mentioned included negative media attention around closing the university players and the encampment agreements with pro-palestinian protestors.
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the university ignited controversy and backlash in june when it announced the permanent closure of the university players theatre program.
it was part of a budget cut levied across all departments to help address this year’s deficit. the shortfall was projected at $5.6 million over the summer, but has since risen to somewhere between $10 million and $15 million.
more controversy followed in july, when uwindsor administration signed deals agreeing to demands from the university of windsor students’ alliance and a group of pro-palestinian protesters who had set up a campus encampment.
reidel said her successor can also expect to face challenges. the star reported last month that uwindsor is projecting an operating budget deficit next fiscal year of more than $30 million.
“every chair has their challenges,” she said. “prior to that, my predecessor dealt with the cyberattack. before that it was the pandemic.
“now, carolyn will be facing some interesting budget challenges. i think every chair has their challenges that they have to face. so, i had mine.”
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