Jay Rothman
(WTAQ-WLUK) — The UW Board of Regents still hasn’t given a clear answer on why they fired Universities of Wisconsin president Jay Rothman Tuesday.
The UW Board of Regents ousted Rothman by a unanimous vote.
Rothman shared more with the Associated Press Wednesday, saying he was told he could retire, resign or be terminated.
“And that’s the point at which I ask, can you give me some indication, some substantive reason or reasons as to why the board had lost confidence in my leadership?” said Rothman. “And they were not able to do so.”
The Board of Regents president said the regents received feedback from chancellors and other stakeholders. The board says it relayed the responses to Rothman during its meeting to fire Rothman on Tuesday.
“This process consisted of multiple meetings with the full Board of Regents, including direct conversations and clear feedback regarding leadership expectations,” said Board of Regents president Amy Bogost. “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.”
Gov. Tony Evers addressed the situation earlier this week.
“I was on that board, it’s their job to make sure they have the best person possible,” said Evers. “As they need to replace him or her, they should do that.”
The regents are primarily appointed by Wisconsin’s governor (16 of 18 are). Regent candidates are then confirmed by the state Senate. 10 of the 18 regents currently serving haven’t yet been confirmed.
The Senate is reconvening at 11 a.m. to decide whether to confirm the members. It comes after some state Republicans called Rothman’s firing politically motivated.
“There certainly is concern that some of this is being directed by partisan interest, which frankly is not really a good look,” said State Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken.
State Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire added, “I think he brought in some good energy, and I don’t know exactly what went into this issue. And I’m really honestly just disappointed to see how some of my colleagues have just hopped on the train of pointing fingers at everybody.”
Rothman took over in 2022 after serving as chairman and CEO of the Milwaukee-based law firm Foley & Lardner.
The regents will now begin to look for his successor and will share more details in the coming weeks.
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