Universities of Wisconsin regents questioned on president's firing

MADISON, Wis. - Fired Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said he was blindsided by his firing. But on Thursday, April 9, two regents pushed back on that during a Senate hearing that was all about the ousting.

The key question: why did the UW System Board of Regents fire Rothman?

Rothman fired

What we know:

On Tuesday, April 7, the regents unanimously voted 17 to 0 to fire Rothman. They didn’t publicly say why.

He told the Associated Press he felt "blindsided" and said the regents were not able to articulate a reason for the termination.

But then, two days after the vote, the regents' president accused Rothman of making comments he knew the board could not correct.

"President Rothman knows exactly what he is doing. He is a sophisticated professional who understands that personnel matters are confidential," said UW System Board of Regents President Amy Bogost.

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"I will not pretend otherwise. What he said publicly is misleading, and the fact that it's misleading does not reflect a lack of reasons on the part of this board. It reflects the opposite," Bogost added. "The reasons were substantial, and the process was very thorough. And if Mr. Rothman generally wants this committee and the public to understand what happened, there is a straightforward path: he can wave his confidentiality."

Regents questioned on firing

What they're saying:

In light of the ousting, the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Universities called 10 unconfirmed board members to testify at a confirmation hearing on April 9.

"Firing President Jay Rothman without a clear explanation to the public requires scrutiny," said State Senator Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield). "It means the public receives the answers that it is entitled to. This is not a routine, personal matter. This is the chief executive of one of the most important public institutions in our state. Decisions of this magnitude require a straightforward explanation."

Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) attended the meeting and criticized the Republican criticism. He earlier listed problems he had with Rothman's leadership, including "Making a deal with Republicans to eliminate DEI positions in exchange for approval of staff pay raises and building funds."

Two of the 10 regents up for confirmation testified.

UW Regent Timothy Nixon shared some of his worries, including that the University of Wisconsin wasn’t on the list of the country’s top 50 innovative universities. He also stated that Rothman was slow when addressing issues like artificial intelligence.

"President Rothman has a command-and-control kind of management style, which was needed to get the budgets balanced and all that stuff," said Nixon.

However, both regents said it was time for someone new to lead the system.

"We need a transformative leader," said Bogost. 

 Bogost said she doesn’t regret hiring Rothman and that it was a wise decision.

Rothman served as Universities of Wisconsin President since 2022. "

"When you come in to effect change and you try to move an organization forward, you have to make difficult decisions," Rothman told the AP after the firing. "And when you make difficult decisions, you can upset some people."

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UW Board members can serve in their positions after the governor appoints them. The Wisconsin State Senate, at any point in time, can have a confirmation hearing and then a confirmation vote to confirm or fire the person. The regents’ president has been in her position for six years without a confirmation vote.

What's next for these 10 UW regents? That's still an open question.

"I was dismayed that they were unable to provide any documentation whatsoever—not so much as a meeting note—on the performance reviews that they repeatedly cited as leading to Rothman’s termination," said Sen. Hutton. "Our committee will evaluate what we heard today and what we didn’t hear, seek out more information from UW System that the Regents told the committee is available, and decide what further actions are appropriate."

The Senate has already finished up their normal work schedule for the year. So it is unlikely, but not impossible, that the full senate would vote this year to fire or confirm the ten unconfirmed UW Board members.