The UMaine Board of Trustees should endorse Shawn Moody for Governor.

Endorsing Shawn Moody for Governor would merely make official the Board of Trustees’ right-wing Republican slant and ingratiate the Governor-elect with the UME System and perhaps increase state funding.

Since Moody is already a Trustee of not only the UMaine System but also the UME Community College System, an endorsement would not violate the fantasy of the UMaine System’s political neutrality. That is a joke.

Neither Board, I’ve learned, has any policy against Trustees’ political participation up to and including running for office. To be sure, if Moody were a Democrat, much less a Bernie Sanders left-wing Democrat, the need to recuse oneself would quickly translate into a new policy.

Moody’s belief that Maine public schools–perhaps including its higher ed institutions–already receive TOO MUCH state funding,would make a Board endorsement a plus, not a minus. And since Moody is on the record as denying that humans cause climate change,reduced funding for Orono’s Climate Change Institute and other programs about climate change might be a great place to start.

To be sure, there is always the possibility that Democratic nominee Janet Mills would win the election. If that should come true, the UME System Board of Trustees
might promptly fund an investigation into likely voter fraud.