The Oregon State University Board of Trustees on Tuesday unanimously accepted President F. King Alexander’s offer to resign amid a wave of outrage over his role in the Louisiana State University sexual misconduct scandal.
Alexandre’s resignation takes effect on April 1, but he will be on administrative leave until then. His resignation comes with an agreement that will pay him a year of additional salary, about $ 600,000. The money will come from the OSU foundation, not from its general fund.
Alexander was president of LSU from 2013 to 2019 during a time when the school systematically administered reports of sexual misconduct by students and football coach Les Miles, according to a report by law firm Husch Blackwell that was made public this month. by LSU.
LSU hired Husch Blackwell in November after a USA TODAY investigation found that university and athletic administration officials repeatedly ignored complaints against abusers, denied victims’ requests for protection and subjected them to further damage for known perpetrators.
Alexander began his term at Oregon State University in July 2020. He spoke briefly at the meeting on Tuesday and offered his apologies to the survivors for any pain they may have suffered.
Several board members also apologized to the survivors and others who were irritated by what they considered indifferent to their feelings last week by the council. Lamar Hurd, an analyst at TV Portland Trail Blazers who holds a broad position on the OSU board, spoke in tears.
“I know people are suffering,” said Hurd, who had to stop several times to compose himself. “In cases of sexual assault and misconduct and violence and things like that, I know it triggers a lot. I know that this is often overlooked. I just want to make sure that you know that you haven’t been forgotten.
“I’m just sorry for the pain that people have had to endure,” added Hurd. “This is not about what the state of Oregon is or wants to be.”
OSU rector Edward Feser will have presidential powers until the board can appoint an interim president. The OSU chairman will begin the search for an interim chair, soliciting several well-qualified candidates and consulting with various groups, including faculty leadership and others.
Alexander’s resignation came less than a week after the OSU council voted 12-2 to put him on probation instead of firing him, after the Husch Blackwell report went public and implicated him in LSU’s institutional failures .
The council also said it would hire an outside consultant to further investigate the problems at LSU and asked Alexander to come up with a “plan of action” to rebuild trust with the Oregon state community.
But that decision only increased the anger of Alexander, who was criticized by people in both the state of Oregon and the Oregon state assembly for refusing to take responsibility for the failures at LSU. Immediately after the board’s decision, the OSU faculty Senate issued a vote of no confidence, and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who appoints board members, also expressed her discontent.
“When we suspended last week, we thought it would be possible for President Alexander to repair the broken confidence in his ability to lead the OSU,” said OSU chairman Rani Borkar on Tuesday, ahead of the board’s executive session. , to consider whether we accept Alexander’s resignation, which he offered on Sunday.
“After hearing and hearing important contributions from several members of our community, we now know that rebuilding trust is no longer possible. In a nutshell, Dr. Alexander is no longer trusted by the OSU community.”
Alexander is the fifth person to face the consequences after the USA TODAY report, which revealed widespread flaws in the way LSU handled complaints of sexual misconduct and gender-based violence.
The University of Kansas announced on March 8 that it was separating from soccer coach Les Miles, that outside investigators found that he had inadequate relationships with working students while he was at LSU. The departure of Kansas sports director Jeff Long, who said he was unaware of the charges against Miles when he signed him in 2018, was announced two days later.
Two LSU athletics department administrators that Husch Blackwell found that did not adequately report Title IX complaints were also punished. Executive Deputy Director of Sports Verge Ausberry and Senior Associate Sports Director Miriam Segar have been suspended, Ausberry for 30 days and Segar for 21.
Alexander insisted that he did nothing wrong when he was at LSU and defended himself vigorously during last week’s public meeting. But on Monday, the chairman of the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the OSU board, saying that Alexander had not been sincere in his testimony.
Alexander cheated OSU about his willingness to be interviewed for an investigation into LSU’s handling of allegations of sexual misconduct under his supervision, wrote LSU’s chairman, Robert Dampf.
Alexander told the council last week that the law firm Husch Blackwell never interviewed him for his investigation of LSU’s handling of sexual misconduct and dating violence, which ended in March and focused on systemic failures that occurred under the supervision of Alexander.
Dampf pointed out that Husch Blackwell asked to interview Alexander twice. The Oregon State General Council, however, responded on behalf of Alexander and said he would only answer questions in writing.
“In search of the truth, Husch Blackwell diligently collected information reaching 2,500 documents, totaling 75,000 pages and more than 60 interviews with LSU employees, in addition to 27 community-wide interview sessions with 10 participants per session,” wrote Dampf. “But they only had a page and a half of responses from Dr. Alexander.”
Alexander also stated at last week’s hearing that he built the LSU Title IX office out of thin air to have seven Title IX coordinators, one for each LSU campus. And he took credit for ending a troubled fraternity due to Title IX violations.
Dampf noted in his letter, however, that Title IX coordinators were hired before Alexander’s arrival in 2013, and the fraternity was closed because a juror died during a hazing ritual, not because of Title IX issues.
Prior to his tenure at LSU, Alexander was the president of the University of California at Long Beach from 2006-2013. Prior to that, he served as president of Murray State University in Kentucky from 2001 to 2005, replacing his father, Kern Alexander, who had run the school for seven years before leaving office in 2001.
The OSU board’s executive and audit committee will now evaluate the university’s Title IX reporting and survivor services, as well as respond to comments and questions received from the Faculty Senate.
“The past few weeks have been a very difficult experience for all of us, the entire OSU community,” said Bokar at the end of the meeting on Tuesday. “We will learn from this experience, but we will not let it separate us. We will heal together. We will dedicate ourselves again to excellence in teaching, student success, discovering research and engaging in service.”
MORE ABOUT LSU RESEARCH
Two women say ex-Washington RB Derrius Guice raped them at LSU when he was a freshman
LSU handled poorly of complaints of sexual misconduct against students, including top athletes
LSU knew in 2018 that the officers upheld the charges against the athletes internally. Did nothing.
The judge orders LSU to deliver the full police report sought in the USA TODAY case
Former LSU football coach Les Miles was banned from contacting female students after the 2013 investigation
LSU’s athletic director wanted to fire Les Miles in 2013 for misconduct. The school did not act.
An independent investigation concludes that LSU routinely handled allegations of sexual misconduct
Heads must roll: LSU students want the school to fire those involved in the investigative report