The board of Wisconsin’s public university system voted on Tuesday to fire President Jay O. Rothman, who angered Democrats and faculty members for bargaining with the Republican-led State Legislature and recently defied regents who had pressed him to resign.
The decision was unanimous, with 17 members of the board — which is controlled by appointees of Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat — voting to remove Mr. Rothman. One member was not present for the vote.
The university system said that the change was effective immediately and that the board had “lost confidence” in Mr. Rothman, who assumed his post in 2022.
Mr. Rothman had previously tussled with regents for making concessions to Republican legislators, including a freeze on diversity, equity and inclusion positions. He also rankled faculty members across the state for his role in establishing general education requirements that limited local autonomy within the 13-university system, which serves more than 164,000 students