President Of Adams State University Placed On Leave After Dressing Up As A Hillbilly Plumber For Halloween

Meet Beverlee McClure. She’s the president of Adams State University… or she was? She’s been placed on leave after dressing up as a hillbilly plumber for Halloween.

The president of Adams State University has been placed on leave amid accusations that she bullied faculty and staff, failed to stem declining student enrollment and mocked blue-collar workers with an offensive Halloween costume that sparked an uproar when photos began circulating on campus.

Beverlee McClure, who became the university’s first female president in April 2015, was placed on leave last week by the school’s board of trustees, leaving the small San Luis Valley school struggling financially and under probation by a national accreditation organization, and critics angry — and still fearful — in her wake.

McClure, hired for her business acumen, has been attacked by detractors as being abrasive and combative. Critics say her dismissive attitude toward anyone but those in her inner circle was put on display at an Oct. 26, 2016, Halloween party. McClure attended dressed as an obese plumber and outfitted in a prosthetic fat suit and rotting buck teeth.

This might not be a popular opinion, but I’m not offended by her costume. Not in the least. I don’t know Beverlee. Maybe she’s an abrasive jerk in real life. I don’t know. But the costume alone doesn’t offend me. It’s a joke, and it actually looks almost EXACTLY like the costume my dad used to wear at our church’s old country themed fall festivals. Every year, my dad dressed up as “Uncle Herschel,” an old school southern hillbilly who owned his own plumbing business. I’m pretty sure he had the same teeth as ol’ Bev. My dad’s a small business owner, and he thrives off self-deprecation– his costume wasn’t that much of a stretch from his regular get-up TBH. I guess that’s why Bev’s look didn’t phase me. My first thought was, “Eh. My dad wore it better.”

“It just showed her contempt for the working people in the community in Alamosa, which is very blue-collar and working class,” said former faculty member Danny Ledonne. “But that is McClure. She cultivated this campus culture of bullying and backstabbing, and anyone who didn’t agree with her or her group were thrown under the bus.”

Several attempts were made to contact McClure, but phone messages were not returned. A university spokeswoman said the school had no way to reach her.

The main difference here? This woman sounds like an actual jerk IRL.

Five former and present Adams State University faculty members who spoke to The Denver Post all backed up Ledonne’s characterization of McClure’s temperament and tactics, but they asked that their names not be used for fear of retaliation from her.

“I’m reluctant to speak up too much since … I imagine she will seek revenge even if fired,” a current faculty member said, adding that McClure is “incompetent to lead a university. … Her people skills are awful because she is vindictive, hyper-sensitive to criticism, and just plain mean. She mocks people less fortunate than herself, like a waitperson with a stutter.”

That really ticks me off.

There was also a ton of drama between her and former faculty member Danny Ledonne.

McClure has previously said her critics are sexist, and she has accused Ledonne of cyberbullying.

“I believe that stronger laws are needed to protect victims of Internet mobs and cyber bullying,” McClure said in a statement last year. “I hope others will join me in the efforts to support these laws at the state and federal level. We cannot continue to allow Internet mobs to stifle the free speech of others.”

McClure banned Ledonne from campus in late 2015, declaring him a security threat. Ledonne taught in the school’s mass communication program from 2011-15 and also operated a video production business, Emberwild Productions. His business required him to attend and film events on the Adams State campus.

After the school didn’t renew his contract, Ledonne launched Watching Adams, in which he criticized Adams State’s pay practices and accused the university of violating state law by failing to make timely payments to adjunct professors.

The ACLU sued the university, which rescinded Ledonne’s banishment in July 2016 and paid $100,000 to settle the lawsuit. Ledonne now documents and writes about Adams State and its recent woes.

It sounds like this wasn’t JUST about the plumber costume after all.

h/t Denver Post