The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents scheduled a Tuesday vote to consider firing the system’s president, who refused their offer to quietly resign because he said no reason had been given for the surprise ouster.
Jay Rothman said in two letters sent to regents that he would not resign from leading the 165,000-student system without an explanation of what he had done wrong.
Board of Regents President Amy Bogost said in a statement Monday that 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,” she said.
The board scheduled the termination vote for 5 p.m. Tuesday. Rothman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The vote is scheduled for just five days after The Associated Press first reported that the board asked Rothman to either resign or face being fired.
Rothman has been president of the multicampus university system since 2022. His letters were the first public indication that Rothman’s job was in jeopardy and took university and state government officials by surprise.