The Rutgers-Rowan merger meltdown

UPDATED at 10:30 a.m.

A rant by the governor, a potential legal rebuke and a collective "no thanks" from top job candidates.

Thursday was so not a good day for the proposed shotgun wedding of Rutgers-Camden and Rowan universities.

Let's start with the fun part: Chris Christie called a Rutgers-Camden law school student an "idiot" after the man debated/baited the governor about the merger during a town hall meeting in Burlington County.

Responding to a question, Christie insisted the forced divorce of Rutgers-Camden from the rest of the state university system, and the arranged marriage between the downtown Camden campus and Rowan,  in Gloucester County, are "going to happen."

But repeated interruptions by the questioner -- Mount Laurel resident, self-described former U.S. Navy Seal, unsuccessful Democratic legislative candidate and Christie critic William Brown -- provoked a loss of the governor's famous Sicilian-Irish temper (audio: here).

Perhaps Christie was already in poor humor due to the spanking administered by a state appeals court,  which ruled that a New Jersey governor's legendary powers do not include an ability to make the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) disappear.

Given the debatable notion that a gubernatorial executive order may be all that's necessary to make the merger a reality, "we're very pleased with this (COAH decision)," a professor at Rutgers School of Law-Camden told me via email.

Not so pleasant: The impact of uncertainty about the future of the two institutions on Rowan's search for a new president.

In an email, university board of trustees President James Gruccio said, "I want to thank the University community for your patience involving the selection of our new president...the final candidates have withdrawn from consideration and ... the Board of Trustees has suspended the search. We will, however, reengage in the search process once there is clarity as to the proposed reorganization of higher education throughout the state."

When it comes to the Rut-Row merger, "clarity" is as lacking as foresight.