“The governor wanted to be cautious on his approach to second-guessing the decision-making they made,” Pearlman said. “He did some fact gathering, had some internal conversations over how the dismissal was handled and so forth. Rather than focus on the past, I think he’s seeing an opportunity to step in as we’re moving forward.”

Dave True, the board president, said he didn’t take Gordon’s letter as a criticism of the board’s handling of the university or of the search process. He said Gordon was calling for an open search, which is what the board has established. He said he would disagree with anyone who considered the university to be adrift or who said that UW’s mission wasn’t well-articulated.

“I appreciated his taking the time and making the effort to share his thoughts on the search process,” True said. “I think overall it’s very consistent with what the board has set up as far as a very open and transparent process.”

The governor was most pointed in calling on the board not to usher through an easy pick for president. In his letter, he referred to a supposed Einstein quote — that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result — and advised the board to avoid the temptation of hiring a “familiar face” as the next president.