UH president calls out ‘conspiracy theories,’ offers no reasons for athletics director firing

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – University of Hawaii president David Lassner defended Thursday his decision to fire athletics director Craig Angelos after the termination created a firestorm of protest.
Tuesday’s announcement stunned the community, including student-athletes and longtime supporters of the program.
Angelos had only been on the job for 18 months before he was notified of his dismissal by outgoing president Lassner.
His last day is Dec. 1.
Speaking before the university’s Board of Regents at a public meeting Thursday morning, Lassner lashed out at critics, but offered very little new information.
“The accusations of a coup by individuals in the department or my rewarding my friends are outright lies,” Lassner said.
Facing the angry faces of student-athletes and surrounded by his bosses, the regents, Lassner delivered a 15-minute statement.
While he did not go into specifics, Lassner said he and Angelos met regularly to discuss his performance.
“I can certainly believe that he felt blindsided by the separation at this time, but to believe that my evaluation and feedback was never discussed would be a false assumption,” he said.
Lassner acknowledged the accomplishments by Angelos during his short stint as athletics director, including helping to secure full-time membership in the Mountain West Conference, providing charter flights for the football team, and negotiating an apparel deal with Nike.
But he offered no new information about why he was terminated and refused to be interviewed.
“A list is important, but does not capture the totality of the performance of an executive,” Lassner said. “I believe my actions have been necessary, appropriate and professional based on the information available to me.
“My job is to make sure that this absolutely critical position is held by someone who can lead all aspects of our program with its diverse internal, and the many important external constituents, into a future that we all know will look very different than the past,” he said.
Because Angelos was fired after the board’s agenda was posted, regents could not legally consider his supporters’ call to reverse the termination.
The university tapped associate athletics director Lois Manin to serve as acting director starting Dec. 2, with incoming UH president Wendy Hensel to announce the search for Angelos’ replacement after the new year.
Lassner denied social media speculation that he fired Angelos to make way for Manin, who he had passed over in hiring Angelos 18 months ago.
“The suggestion that I was pressured or forced to form a committee is an outright lie,” he said. “If I had wanted to hire her as athletic director, I had every opportunity to do so.”
Manin released a statement Wednesday confirming that she had previously applied for the position and was a finalist. But shortly after losing the top job to Angelos, she decided she would not apply for the position moving forward.
“I respect the job she has done and the integrity she has maintained throughout the personal attacks on her,” Lassner said.
Lassner urged “the haters and liars” to stop fueling “a social media firestorm” over Angelos’ exit.
He said, “There is enough drama in this business, especially now, without adding lies about the circumstances of his departure from UH to his permanent online record.”
Lassner also told university donors, boosters and sponsors that pulling their funding would do more harm than good.
“If you withhold your support because you disagree with my decision about what is best for UH as I’m doing my job and what is best for the program as I am doing my job, you are only hurting the student-athletes and coaches that I know you want to support,” he said.
Lassner’s term ends Dec. 31. And while he acknowledged the “awkward timing” of Angelos’ dismissal, Lassner said he stands by his decision.
“While I regret the shameful leaks, lies, and vicious attacks that have characterized this situation, I say honestly and with my head held high to the regents, to all of you here, to the athletic department, to the university, and to the public, I have never done anything but act in a way that I truly believe to be in the best interests of this university that I love, and this action was no different,” he said.
The regents emerged from their executive session without comment after about an hour and a half behind closed doors. Because executive sessions are legally secret, it’s not clear if Lassner was forced by the regents to defend his decision or what additional information he may have provided in secret.
Any effort by the regents to revisit the situation will have to wait until their next meeting in January.
View the transcript below:
Thank you all for coming. I really do appreciate the passion and the respectfulness of this testimony today, some of which is not consistent with the written testimony that is made public and that was submitted to the board also.
But I’d like to respond before my published items to the testimony that has been presented both respectfully and publicly here, and also less so in writing, and the controversy in general.
The social media, and some of which is included in the written testimony submitted to the board and made public, just includes a set of ugly lies and conspiracy theories.
I have supervised university employees, both unionized and exempt, for some 40 years. I do understand the processes involved and I get professional HR help when necessary.
In the course of my career, I have hired many people, and I’m happy to report that I have been responsible for many, many fewer exits. Some of the exits have involved people I had hired and some were existing employees. Behaving professionally and respectfully throughout those processes has also meant doing my best to assist folks with opportunities for future employment elsewhere.
In my opinion, the athletic director at UH Manoa is probably the second hardest job in the university and it is one of the hardest jobs in Hawaii.
I’ll come back to the hiring process shortly, since that has been the subject of some of the outright lies circulating. But to be clear, I did personally select Mr. Angelos to serve as AD with the advice and counsel of a search advisory committee of internal and external constituents and stakeholders, and ultimately, with the approval of the Board of Regents.
He and I have met regularly since he has been hired, typically twice a month if our schedules have not interfered. I have shared my assessments with him throughout that time and he has agreed or not agreed as part of the UH standard annual evaluation process of executives. We also conduct an online survey, both objective and subjective of those around them, we refer to it as a 360. Outside of our Office of Human Resources, only the supervisor has access to those results and for Mr. Angelos, that’s me.
I also received verbal feedback, solicited and unsolicited, from internal and external stakeholders, and from colleagues on a regular basis, and this culminates in an annual performance evaluation discussion that brings the year together.
I absolutely acknowledge Mr. Angelos’ leadership and roles in some of the accomplishments he cites that are echoed by his supporters here and in the online world. Positives and accomplishments are part of everyone’s performance assessment, and I always applaud them.
But, for example, university presidents comprise the boards of athletic conferences, so I actually know a little more about the things like conference moves, and how many people contribute to make those things happen, and how they actually take place beyond a bullet list.
And as I know full well from my own performance evaluations by supervisors before and the board now, a list is important, but does not capture the totality of the performance of an executive.
My job is to make sure that this absolutely critical position is held by someone who can lead all aspects of our program with its diverse internal, and the many important external constituents, into a future that we all know will look very different than the past.
As both Mr. Angelos and I have stated, the separation was based on my overall evaluation of his performance.
He has clearly expressed his disagreement with my evaluation and some of the feedback I provided to him, so I can certainly believe that he felt blindsided by the separation at this time. But to believe that my evaluation and feedback was never discussed would be a false assumption. The details of the employee performance assessments are private. Mr. Angelos was in every one of those discussions with me.
So let me respond to the timing of the announcement, which I agree is awkward. I came to the conclusion that separation was needed, but I did not believe it would be in the best interest of the university to take this action while the presidential search was underway.
And the reaction we see now, and particularly on social media, demonstrates exactly why it would have become a major distraction and might have overwhelmed that absolutely critical search.
At the same time, I did not believe that I could or should leave the next president to solve a problem that I believe existed, particularly one that was a result of my own decision-making, and I would think, or at least hope, that any responsible leader would act the same way. Hence the awkward timing of this action.
Those around me know that while I am retiring on Dec. 31, I have in no way stopped doing my job, and I will continue to do my job until my last day as president. Although I am in contact with incoming President Hensel, and informed her of this action, I did not seek her counsel nor guidance on the specifics of the matter.
But let me turn now, and I am not referring to anyone who spoke here today, to the disgraceful personal attacks that have been launched by anonymous haters in the community, and some of that is in the written testimony published on the Board of Regents web page.
I know many of the testifiers genuinely care about UH Athletics. I respect that and absolutely believe that Craig Angelos is the right AD for UH Manoa at this time.
But others are perpetrators of a particularly nasty web of lies. While I am sad to think this way, it raises questions about those anonymous individuals that are fighting so viciously, and what it is they believe they will lose with the departure of AD Angelos.
I will leave others to speculate or investigate those persons and their motivations, including whether there is any liability for their allegations. But I want to correct for the public record some of the outright lies being promulgated.
First, when it was time to hire a successor to the prior AD, there was never any doubt that I would create a search advisory committee. This is the process I have used to fill every executive position that reports to me, and the suggestion that I was pressured or forced to form a committee is an outright lie.
I was not trying to hire Lois Manin as AD. While her application was private, she has now disclosed that she was selected as a finalist by the position for the search advisory committee, not by me, and the finalists were interviewed by the search advisory committee, then by me and others, and I selected AD Angelos over her and the other finalist spot for the position. And I defended that appointment when I brought it to the Board of Regents for approval.
If I had wanted to hire her as athletic director, I had every opportunity to do so.
Third, the primary target of the attacks who is accused of trying to oust the AD, associate AD who will become acting AD, has publicly announced that she will not apply for the athletic director position when President Hensel decides to commence the next search.
She is an at-will employee who will serve under the next AD, subject to the same employment terms as all UH executives, as she has served under the last two athletic directors. I respect the job she has done and the integrity she has maintained throughout the personal attacks on her.
Fourth, the accusations of a coup by individuals in the department or my rewarding my friends are outright lies. I am not social friends with the individuals being viciously attacked. They are certainly professional colleagues, as are hundreds of other UHers in the athletic department and throughout the university.
I do not know where these individuals live. They have never been to my home. I do not believe I ever shared a meal with them other than perhaps at some athletic event. Neither ever called or reached out to me to express concerns about AD Angelos. Not once.
There are nastier allegations that are even worse, and I will not dignify them with a denial. Everyone involved in these attacks, whether creating them or promulgating them, and whether they are ever held accountable, legally or otherwise, should be absolutely ashamed of themselves and hope that they are never caught in a similar web of lies.
As Mr. Angelos shared in his public statement, it is time for all of us to move forward. He plans to seek his next great opportunity in intercollegiate athletics, and while he of course disagreed, and was not happy with my decision to separate, he and I did agree to a schedule for announcing his departure that we believed would have been in the best interests of both the university and his future job prospects under the very difficult circumstances.
Within 24 hours, that news was leaked to sports media on the continent and the lies began. So let me now share some messages that I have held back, hoping that rationality would prevail and the firestorm would die down.
First, for the haters and liars, and again, I am not referring to anyone who testified here today, I tell you, as someone that isn’t responsible to hire ADs, actions to create a social media firestorm of support, particularly with elements that have no ethics or morals, will not help Mr. Angelos win the trust of his next prospective employers. There is enough drama in this business, especially now, without adding lies about the circumstances of his departure from UH to his permanent online record.
If he does not think he can call you off, and again, I’m not speaking to those who testified today, I’m asking you out there to do so now, for his future job prospects as well as for the good of the student athletes and coaches you claim to support.
For the donors, boosters, sponsors and fans who have been drawn into the false narrative, the web of conspiracy theories, I love your passion for UH Manoa athletics and I always will. Your cheering, your screams, your shakas, your donations, your sponsorships, your incredible willingness to travel anywhere to support our teams. These are not things you do for an athletic director, and I am certainly aware there are not things you do for a president and especially not for me, right now.
Your passion as donors, boosters, sponsors and fans is and should be for our amazing student-athletes, many of whom are here today, and our coaches. That’s who represents our university and our state throughout the country and the world with honor and pride. If you withhold your support because you disagree with my decision about what is best for UH as I’m doing my job and what is best for the program as I am doing my job, you are only hurting the student-athletes and coaches that I know you want to support.
To the student-athletes, coaches and staff of our beloved athletic department, I assure you I care deeply about the UH Manoa athletics program, and I believe my actions have been necessary, appropriate and professional based on the information available to me. I know that many of you do not agree with me today, and you are entitled to your opinion based on what you see, what you know, and I absolutely respect that. I urge you to put it behind you and focus on student-athlete success on the court, in the field, and in the classroom. That’s what we all want, including Mr. Angelos.
The passion of our community is clear and evident, including today, and that passion is for you, not the president, not the AD, at any point in time, and if any of you have specific suggestions regarding what should be continued, what should change, where we are moving forward and how we can advance, please share those ideas with me and with incoming AD, acting AD Lois Manin.
This is not a time to stand still for any of us and your ideas are critical. And that’s to all of the athletic department, whether here or not.
And finally to one last group that has stayed below the radar. I think we all know that when this kind of frenzy is created, anyone who does not agree is quickly shouted down, pressured or just stay silent. So I do want to thank those of you who have reached out to me privately, to either thank me because you agree with my action, or just to express confidence in my decision-making and my integrity. You may not be loud, but you are heard also.
So let me close by saying I’ve been at the center of many difficult decisions and many controversies in my 11 years as president, and while I regret the shameful leaks, lies, and vicious attacks that have characterized this situation, I say honestly and with my head held high to the regents, to all of you here, to the athletic department, to the university, and to the public, I have never done anything but act in a way that I truly believe to be in the best interests of this university that I love, and this action was no different.
Go ‘Bows.
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