Governor Kate Brown has issued a statement supporting Oregon State University’s Board of Trustees’ independent investigation into alleged mishandling of Title IX misconduct and sexual assault issues by President F. King Alexander while he served as president of Louisiana State University.
Alexander has been put on probation as of March 17 while the Board investigates claims made in the Husch Blackwell report. On March 18, Brown, who appoints the OSU Trustees, supported this investigation which will include a public session on March 23 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
According to The Daily Barometer, Brown said, “If [the investigation] confirms that president Alexander did not uphold his ethical and legal responsibilities to protect the safety of the students at LSU, I expect the board to take decisive action to remove him.”
Student and faculty organizations have made calls for Alexander’s resignation. Also, the faculty senate, during voting, expressed lack of confidence in Alexander’s ability to perform the office functions.
On March 19, Senator Lew Frederick and Representatives Susan McLain and Paul Evans introduced a Senate Bill 854 which includes the requirement that each member of the governing board of OSU have a publicly–available official email address, that all employees and currently enrolled students at OSU be included in the search committee for a president of a public university, and that every two years a comprehensive evaluation of a president of a public university be conducted.
This bill has been in consideration for a while and, in the words of Frederick’s Chief of Staff Nathan Soltz, “[Recent] happenings of various natures from Oregon’s universities just go to highlight the urgent need for these reforms.”
By Joanna Rosińska
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com