I can't help but think that the recent call for action from Clayton McWhorter, vice chair of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees regarding Dr. John Shumaker and his spending habits were purely about face.

Only after publication on knoxpost.com late last year and eventually reports by the local media in June did things start to boil over. The trustees say they didn't know or were not informed about Shumaker, his record at the University of Louisville or the Louisville Foundation. I say they didn't want to know.

By a simple computer search, using google.com, I was able to pull up articles dating back over a year detailing a lawsuit filed by The Louisville Courier-Journal. Yet, a consultant who surely would have had more extensive means to do checks is clueless?

The whole process of how Shumaker was hired seems contrived. Surely the trustees would have been aware of his travels if not his use of the university credit card. You don't take 25 trips or so in a year and not have someone notice that you aren't exactly around all the time.

Chris Fortner

Knoxville