John Andrist sees Joseph Chapman’s resignation as president of North Dakota State University as the expected end to an overly enabled ego.
“The guy thought he was the second coming. I can understand why,” said Andrist, a Republican state senator from Crosby who sits on the Senate Higher Education Committee.
Andrist and Rep. Bob Skarphol, chairman of the Higher Education Committee, said they recognize that Chapman has been an effective leader. But both said he had to go.
“It’s so obvious that he got carried away with his own ego and thought he could do just about anything that he felt like doing,” Andrist said. “In a way, I feel sorry for him. So many people enabled him.”
Skarphol said he was planning to ask for Chapman’s resignation because of the cost overruns on the house being built for him.
“Either the man was arrogant to the extent that he did not think he was touchable, or he was incompetent. In either case, he needed to leave,” he said.