We didn't see this one coming. Of all the political surprises in the past two days, one nearly slipped under MetaEzra's radar. Eliot Spitzer, New York's next governor, has already begun assembling his transition team, and would it really be complete without a former Cornell president on board? From today's Times: His appointees included Richard Parsons, chief executive of Time Warner and a Republican donor who gave money to Mr. Spitzer’s opponent, John Faso; Rosanna Rosado, the publisher of El Diario, the Spanish language newspaper; and Hunter Rawlings, the former president of Cornell University.His transition chairmen are a racially and politically diverse group as he seeks to signal a bipartisan approach. He also said he intentionally excluded elected officials and lobbyists.
Our initial reaction is that this can't be bad for state funding or Cornell's future relations with the New York State government. Spitzer may very well be sending a signal that he takes the land-grant institution seriously; neither Columbia nor New York University seem to be represented in his team so far.
Hopefully Rawlings will provide eyes and ears for President Skorton in this crucial period at Cornell.
