Universities of Wisconsin leaders looking to oust system president who refuses to quit
MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — The president of Wisconsin’s 25-campus universities said in a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press that he was told to either resign or be fired but was given no reason and would not leave the 165,000-student system.
Jay RothmanIn a March 26 letter to the chairman of the Board of Trustees, the president of the university system since 2022, he said he was given no reason for the regents to want him to leave.
Rothman said he was told his options were to resign or retire, and if he didn’t the board was “prepared to terminate me, despite everything they’ve done.”
The Board of Trustees held a closed emergency meeting Wednesday night to discuss personnel matters.
“The board is responsible for the leadership of the Universities of Wisconsin and is engaged in discussions about its future,” board chair Amy Bogost said in a statement to the AP. he said. “We do not comment on personnel matters”
Rothman declined to comment when reached via email Thursday.
“I believe my letter speaks for itself,” he said.
Rothman’s tenure was marked by federal cutbacks, controversy over free speech on campus during pro-Palestinian protests, and efforts to increase state funding amid declining enrollment that led to the closure of eight branch campuses.
“Since you have not provided any substantive justification or justification to date for the Board’s distrust of my leadership, I am not prepared to tender my resignation as a matter of principle,” Rothman said in the letter addressed to Bogost.
In his letter, Rothman notes that “among many other things,” the university will need to replace the president of its flagship Madison campus this year. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin He is leaving to take office as president of Columbia University.
“I do not believe that my resignation at this time is in the best interest of either the Universities of Wisconsin or the state of Wisconsin,” Rothman said.
In his letter, Rothman said he had devoted his “heart and soul to the mission of the Universities of Wisconsin” and was surprised to be told that “an unidentified majority of the Board of Trustees had lost confidence in his leadership.”
“When I asked you to explain the reasons for the Board’s conclusion and lack of confidence in me, you simply stated that each Trustee has his or her own perspective on the matter,” Rothman wrote. “You did not provide any concrete justification for the board’s decision.”
Rothman, the former president and CEO of Milwaukee-based law firm Foley & Lardner, was elected UW president in 2022. He had no previous experience managing higher education.
