Also, throughout it all, there has been no high-level talk about Wellman’s job security, other than to laugh off any idea that this could cost him his job.
That has allowed the department to continue to hunker down even more in its position that the group taking out ads and billboards is a fringe group. The billboard has been treated as a mere nuisance, almost a non-event, especially after it received little national attention compared to the newspaper ads.
Publicly, the department did not offer a statement about the billboard. WFU president Nathan Hatch has not felt the need to say anything about Wellman’s job status, as the idea that it would be necessary seems ludicrous to those at the top.
The real issue is that the people in the dissenting group are not important, at least in the larger picture. Hundreds of times, we’ve seen universities pressured into changes in the athletic department by big donors or important political figures. Hatch and Wellman face nothing of the sort. The “purge” movement is grass roots, and none of that grass is growing in the backyards of top donors or trustees.