“I did ask multiple times for a reason, and I was not given one” – Jay Rothman
Jay Rothman, the now-terminated president of the Universities of Wisconsin, is challenging several public claims made by the president of the Board of Regents, Amy Bogost. He also claimed that the Regents offered him the chance to live a “lie,” which he could not do.
“The Regent president has said they had been in good faith discussions with me over several months. If those discussions were ongoing, they were not with me. That did not occur. It’s as simple as that,” Rothman said.
Regents President Bogost has deep ties to Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, who appointed her and 16 of the other 18 Regents. She is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney and Democratic donor. She focuses on federal Title IX cases and positions her law firm as focusing on “Madison area victim representation.” Evers named Bogost’s sister-in-law, Kathy Blumenfeld, to be the secretary of his powerful Department of Administration in 2022. Prior to that, Bogost’s sister-in-law was Evers’ Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. The acting president of the UW, who will replace Rothman until a permanent replacement is selected, is the former deputy secretary of Evers’ DOA.
“President Rothman was not without notice, nor was this process sudden. The Board has engaged with President Rothman in good-faith discussions over the past several months,” Bogost wrote in a statement.
Asked about that claim, Rothman responded, “I don’t know how she comes to that conclusion, to be real candid with you.”
Rothman made his comments on WISN-12’s “Upfront” program. He also told the Associated Press that he was “blindsided” by the sudden firing.
He said he did meet with Regent leadership regularly as president but said there has “never been any discussion on whether my job was at risk or that I was being moved toward termination.”
Rothman was regarded as a bipartisan figure who was not firmly linked to either political party but who was willing to work across the aisle in both directions. The state Senate’s Universities and Technical Colleges committee is planning a Thursday hearing and executive session where the Senate may act to reject some of the Board of Regents’ appointments in the wake of Rothman’s poorly explained termination. The state Assembly is planning a hearing to compel the Regents to explain why they fired Rothman; he says that he still has not been given a reason. The Regents have not articulated a clear one publicly, either. Instead, Bogost offered only vague generalities.
State Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) called Rothman’s firing a “blatant partisan political hatchet job,” adding, “The Board of Regents once again appears to be distracted by politics and unable to concentrate on addressing the big picture challenges the UW System faces.”
Rothman said that the first time he learned his job was in jeopardy was on March 20 when he received a call from Regent Vice President Kyle Weatherly, who said, “We would like to meet with you tomorrow. I would like to give you a head’s up that the Regents have lost confidence in you.”
Rothman said he still, even after being fired, has never been given a reason for it.
“I did ask multiple times for a reason, and I was not given one,” he said. “They may not owe that reason to me, but I suspect they owe it to the state of Wisconsin, universities, taxpayers, and frankly to all residents of the state.”
Rothman acknowledged that the Board of Regents have a right to terminate him with or without cause.
“I’m disappointed by the action that the Regents took, but I’m not angry. My concern really is for the future of the Universities of Wisconsin,” Rothman said.
He pointed out there were over a million graduates of the Universities of Wisconsin in the last generation and called the universities “necessary for Wisconsin’s economic viability and social vibrancy.”
Rothman said the Regents offered him “the opportunity to announce my retirement to serve through the end of the calendar year. I thought about what’s in the best interest of the Universities of Wisconsin, but I couldn’t get myself there to basically live a lie until Dec. 31 of 2026.”
Asked again for the reason he was fired, he added, “I really don’t know because I haven’t gotten an explanation.”
In her statement, Bogost wrote, “Under Board policy, the Board President is tasked to conduct an annual performance review of the System President. The Board President met with a wide variety of individuals and stakeholders, including Regents, Chancellors and other members of the Universities of Wisconsin communities. Regent leadership then shared the results of that review with President Rothman. This process consisted of multiple meetings with the full Board of Regents, including direct conversations and clear feedback regarding leadership expectations.”
Contrast her statement with Rothman’s description of the evaluation process. He called it “unique.”
“The Regent president apparently in an attempt to try to do a 360 degree review talked to a lot of people,” he said. “It came back to me, and I got a stream of consciousness. Here’s just multiple comments without attribution. No suggestions about how to improve. She described it to me as being overwhelmingly positive.”
Then, he said, he received the call from Weatherly. The board then met in closed session, a meeting he described as “chaotic,” and, Rothman says, “That was the end of their review process.”
We reached out to the Regents to see if Bogost or they wanted to make further comment on Rothman’s statements to Channel 12.
