Jay Rothman was railroaded.
What else are we to think? The Board of Regents has yet to present a coherent reason – scratch that, ANY reason, really – for firing him.
Instead, they praised Rothman, the president of the Universities of Wisconsin, for a bunch of things. Then they fired him. Make that make sense.
It doesn’t.
Rothman deserved better. The taxpayers deserve answers. Luckily, the Legislature is trying to get them.
“Under his leadership, the Universities of Wisconsin took important and often difficult steps to address longstanding structural deficits, putting individual universities on sounder financial footing for the future. He worked hard to bring the best to the campuses, students, faculty, and staff. Those efforts and that dedication are acknowledged and appreciated. However, despite these accomplishments, based on the annual performance review and subsequent discussions, the Board has lost confidence in President Rothman’s ability to lead the UWs moving forward.”
That’s the statement from the Regents before they handed Rothman a pink slip. Yeah, it makes no sense to us either. If he’s accomplished all of these great things, why fire him? Why the lack of clarity?
Outrageous.
But it’s not hard to figure out.
Today, 16 of 18 Regents are Evers’ appointees. One of the other two Regents is leftist Jill Underly. Over time, the Scott Walker appointees have fallen off the board.
Governor’s races have consequences. Evers has used his authority to reshape, not only the Board of Regents, but also courthouses all over the state (through judicial and DA appointments.) The damage caused by these appointments is incalculable.
Jay Rothman was not a fire-breathing conservative. Not at all. He took stances conservatives didn’t agree with at times, and he took stances liberals didn’t agree with at times. At all times, he seemed like he was trying to navigate tough waters in a divided government to help students and do what was best for the state and UW. He was just a well-meaning guy who tried to work with BOTH sides of the aisle. He was a compromise builder.
Apparently, that’s not an attribute desired by the Regents.
I’m guessing his great sin was not fighting hard enough for DEI and taking a stand to depoliticize the taxpayer-funded universities (UW-Milwaukee outrageously called for a ceasefire in Israel as an institution). I’m guessing his great sin was trying to work with Republicans when it benefited the UW.
If the Regents had some other reason for losing confidence, they aren’t providing it. Always be wary when public entities try to oust people without saying why.
Perhaps this is about the Regents wanting to choose a new UW-Madison chancellor who fits their DEI desires. Perhaps they’re worried Republican Tom Tiffany will become governor, so they want to pick a leftist System president before that happens. Perhaps they’re hoping the state Senate falls into the hands of Democrats who could thwart Tiffany appointments.
If the Regents think a bipartisan compromise builder like Rothman isn’t good enough for them, God only knows how far they intend to push things next.
Who are the Board of Regents?
Angela Adams, Evers appointee
Desmond Adongo, Evers appointee
Amy Bogost, Evers appointee
Noah Fritz, Evers appointee
Haben Goitom, Evers appointee
Jim Kreuser, Evers appointee
Edmund Manydeeds III, Evers appointee
Timothy Nixon, Evers appointee
Tom Palzewicz, Evers appointee
Joan Prince, Evers appointee
Ashok Rai, Evers appointee
Sara Rogers, Technical College Board President
Jack Salzwedel, Evers appointee
Linda Terwilliger, Evers appointee
Amy Traynor, Evers appointee
Jill Underly, state Superintendent of Schools
Karen Walsh, Evers appointee
Kyle Weatherly, Evers appointee
(My opinions are my own and do not reflect the institution where I work.)
