Readers react to an article about College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources Sciences administrators stifling academic freedom of researchers, according to multiple sources. Faculty from within the college claim administrators allowed industry to interfere with the research of WSU faculty, and threatened and punished researchers due to business interests.

Read the full article here.

William Francis Condon: “This goes back a long time before Bernardo, though I think his tenure saw the practice increase. CAHNRS is the poster child for industry controlling a college. Ask Phil Wandschneider about his field burning research in the 1990s. Sam Smith kowtowed to the grass seed industry and threw Phil under the bus. Or check with Preston Andrews, whose research ran afoul of the apple growers. The new and more sinister development here is the ‘three strikes’ bit. That is totally unethical. A clear abuse of power.”

Kathleen Williams: “I was forced out by [Bernardo and Kidwell.] And don’t get me started on Jim McFerson. WSU had no business hiring this person.”

Corrine Harris: “This is amazing that someone outside of CAHNRS picked up on this. It’s so true. Kudos to this article, hopefully it can get the current dean out of his position to allow for a better system and better leadership.”

Preston Andrews: “It always seems that when there’s lots of money involved, ethics gets thrown out the window. So, this isn’t new, just revealed.”