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.
Republican lawmakers criticized the decision to remove Mr. Rothman, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an interview before Tuesday evening’s meeting, Robin Vos, speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, praised Mr. Rothman’s performance as president, particularly his skill in negotiating favorable budget deals with the Legislature.
“Rothman has done a good job negotiating,” said Mr. Vos, among Wisconsin’s most powerful Republicans. He suggested that the board’s effort to oust the president was politically motivated because board members regarded Mr. Rothman as too conservative.
Before the vote, Mr. Evers said that the decision was up to regents. The board did not give specific reasons for the decision during the 30-minute meeting on Tuesday, much of it held in a private executive session.
In letters obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Rothman told regents in March and early April that he was astonished to learn that they had wanted him to step down. In one letter, he wrote that he had not been given “any substantive reason or reasons for the board’s finding of no confidence in my leadership.”
The board’s president, Amy B. Bogost, said in a statement this week that officials had given Mr. Rothman “clear feedback regarding leadership expectations” following his annual performance review, but she did not elaborate on any shortcomings. The Times requested a copy of the review, but it was not available Tuesday.
“At a time of profound change in higher education, this decision is about the future,” said Ms. Bogost, a civil rights lawyer in Madison. “The Universities of Wisconsin must be led with a clear vision.” Ms. Bogost could not be reached for comment after the meeting.
Mr. Rothman, a former chairman of the Foley & Lardner law firm, told regents that he had been an effective steward of Wisconsin’s universities and that a leadership change would be ill-timed.
One reason, he suggested, is the need to find a chancellor for the flagship university in Madison. The current chancellor, Jennifer L. Mnookin, is leaving at the end of the academic year to become Columbia University’s next president.
Mr. Rothman, like many leaders of public university systems, largely focused on handling budget matters and managing relationships with statehouse power brokers — no easy task in Wisconsin.
In 2023, Mr. Rothman struck a deal with legislative Republicans for the university system to “reimagine” its approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.
In return, Republicans, who had blocked tens of millions of dollars in previously approved funding, cleared the way for pay raises and other spending. Mr. Rothman said he regarded the accord as a tempered victory, but the deal frustrated others in Madison, including Governor Evers, and won only divided support from regents.
Mr. Rothman also presided over the closure of a succession of branch campuses and championed the establishment of general education requirements. He said the policy, prompted by a new state law, would make it easier for students to transfer to other universities within the system, but faculty members said the move limited local control by mandating categories of courses students must take.
The new requirements are scheduled to take effect later this year.
“President Rothman’s tenure has been defined by his unwillingness to listen to the stakeholders that truly define our campuses,” Jon Shelton, the president of an American Federation of Teachers’ chapter in Wisconsin, said after the latest tensions between Mr. Rothman and regents became public.
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education.
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