The Oregon State Board of Trustees on Tuesday unanimously accepted President F. King Alexander’s offer to resign amid an outburst of outrage stemming from his role in the sexual misconduct scandal at Louisiana State University.
Alexander’s resignation will take effect on April 1, but he will be on administrative leave until then. His resignation comes with a settlement agreement that will pay him an extra salary of about $ 600,000. The money comes from OSU’s foundation, as opposed to the general fund.
Alexander was president of LSU from 2013 to 2019 at a time when the school was systematically mistreating reports of sexual misconduct by students and head soccer coach Les Miles, according to a report by law firm Husch Blackwell released publicly by LSU this month is.
LSU appointed Husch Blackwell in November after an investigation by the USA TODAY found that officials in the university’s athletics department and the wider government had repeatedly ignored complaints against abusers, denied the victims’ requests for protection and were subject to further damage by known offenders.
Alexander began his tenure at Oregon State University in 2020. He spoke briefly on Tuesday and apologized to the survivors for the pain they were suffering.
Several board members also apologized to survivors and others who were angry at what they saw by the board last week as indifference to their feelings. Lamar Hurd, a Portland Trail Blazers TV analyst who holds a general position on the OSU board, spoke in tears.
“I know people got hurt,” said Hurd, who had to stop a few times to compose himself. ‘In cases of sexual assault and misconduct and violence and things like that, I know it causes a lot. I know all too often that it is overlooked. I just want to make sure you know that it has not been overlooked.
“I’m sorry for the pain people had to endure,” Hurd added. “That’s not what Oregon State is about.”
OSU pastor Edward Feser will hold presidential powers until the council is able to appoint an interim president.
Alexander’s resignation comes less than a week after the OSU council voted 12-2 to put him on probation rather than dismiss him, after the Husch Blackwell report became known and involved him at LSU’s institutional shortcomings.
The council also said it would hire an external consultant to further investigate the problems at LSU, and asked Alexander to come up with an “action plan” to rebuild trust in the Oregon state’s community.
But the decision heightened anger against Alexander, who has been criticized by people in Oregon State and in the Oregon State House for refusing to take responsibility for the failures at LSU. Immediately after the council’s decision, the Senate of the OSU faculty issued a no-confidence motion, and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who is appointing councilors, also expressed her displeasure.
“When we adjourned last week, we thought it was possible for President Alexander to restore the broken confidence and confidence in his ability to lead OSU,” Rani Borkar, chairwoman of the OSU board, said Tuesday before the board of directors said to consider whether to accept Alexander’s resignation. which he presented on Sunday.
“After listening and hearing important input from various members of our community, we now know that rebuilding trust is no longer possible. Simply put, Dr. Alexander no longer has the trust of the OSU community.”
Alexander is the fifth person to face consequences in the wake of the US TODAY report that revealed widespread shortcomings in the way LSU handles sexual misconduct and complaints about gender-based violence.
The University of Kansas announced on March 8 that they were separating from football coach Les Miles, who outside the investigators found that they had inappropriate relationships with female student workers while he was at LSU. The departure of Kansas athletic director Jeff Long, who said he was unaware of the allegations against Miles when he was appointed in 2018, was announced two days later.
Two administrators in LSU’s athletics department, who found Husch Blackwell did not report title IX complaints properly, were also disciplined. Executive Deputy Athletics Director Verge Ausberry and Senior Co-Athletic Director Miriam Segar were suspended, Ausberry for 30 days and Segar for 21.
Alexander insisted he did nothing wrong when he was at LSU, and defended himself strongly at the public meeting last week. But the chairman of the board of supervisors at Louisiana State University on Monday sent a letter to OSU’s board saying Alexander was not true in his testimony.
Alexander misled OSU about its willingness to be questioned for an investigation into LSU’s handling of allegations of sexual misconduct, wrote Robert Dampf, chairman of the LSU.
Alexander told the board last week that law firm Husch Blackwell never questioned him for his investigation into LSU’s handling of sexual misconduct and violence, which ended in March and focused on systemic failures that occurred on Alexander’s watch.
Dampf pointed out that Husch asked Blackwell twice to interview Alexander. However, Oregon’s general council responded on behalf of Alexander, saying he would only take written questions.
“In pursuit of truth, Husch Blackwell diligently gathered information amounting to 2,500 documents totaling 75,000 pages and more than 60 interviews with LSU employees plus 27 community outreach sessions with 10 participants per session,” Dampf wrote. ‘But they only have one and a half pages of answers from dr. Had Alexander. ‘
Alexander also claimed during the trial last week that he built LSU’s title IX office from nothing to seven title IX coordinators, one for each LSU campus. And he received credit for the cessation of a problematic fraternity as a result of Title IX violations.
However, Dampf noted in his letter that the title IX coordinators were hired before Alexander’s arrival in 2013, and the fraternity was closed because a promise died during a haze 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 was president of Murray State University in Kentucky from 2001-2005, replacing his father, Kern Alexander, who taught for seven years before retiring in 2001.
MORE ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION AT LSU
Two women say Derrius Guice, former Washington RB, raped them at LSU when he was a freshman
LSU mishandled complaints of sexual misconduct against students, including top athletes
LSU knew in 2018 that officials were holding allegations against athletes internally. It did nothing.
Judge orders LSU to hand over the full police report requested in the USA TODAY case
Former LSU soccer coach Les Miles has been banned from contacting female students following the 2013 inquiry
LSU’s athletics director wanted to fire Les Miles in 2013 for misconduct. The school did not act.
Independent investigation found that LSU often mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct
The principals must roll: LSU students want the school to dismiss those implicated in the investigation report