Firing of higher education chief not unique

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Dec. 1, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

Few college presidents in the history of Nevada have had the unfortunate distinction of being removed from their jobs.

But the Nov. 20 Board of Regents action that stripped Ron Remington of his presidency at the Community College of Southern Nevada is rare but not unique, according to James Hulse, a University of Nevada, Reno historian.

"The usual way of doing it is to give the president a chance to resign, which he or she will usually do," said Hulse, author of "Reinventing the System," about the history of Nevada's higher education system. "Often when a president is arbitrarily fired, it causes more problems than it solves."

Remington is one of six Nevada college or university presidents to either be ousted or pressured to resign by the university system's Board of Regents since 1949.

Historians such as Hulse might not soon know the full story about why Remington lost his post, but it reinforces what all presidents are told before taking the job: They serve at the pleasure of the board.

The first time a board was displeased with one of its presidents was in 1949 when UNR President John Mosley was unceremoniously dismissed from his job. The reason is not quite clear, Hulse said.

Less than a decade later came the most controversial removal yet -- that of Minard Stout, a UNR president who served from 1952-1957.

Stout set off a firestorm nationwide when he attempted to suppress the academic freedom of a professor. The incident prompted a legislative investigation and caused UNR to be censured by the American Association of University Professors.

"The Minard Stout incident was of course a major turning point," former UNR President Joe Crowley said. "That led to legislative action and the expansion of the Board of Regents. It also led to new personnel policies and faculty protections."

But the 1970s proved to be the most tumultuous time to serve as a president at a Nevada college or university.

Regents ousted Charles Donnelly, president of the community college division, because of political pressure in 1977. That same year, regents removed Chancellor Neil Humprey.

Humprey's removal was followed with that of Max Milam, a UNR president who served from 1974-1978.

Milam's downfall was due in part to his effort to hire Humprey to work on special administrative projects. At the same time, controversy erupted over his oversight of the College of Agriculture, according to Hulse.

"The dismissal of Milam came without a hearing or explanation and in spite of pleas from campus administrators and the faculty senate on his behalf," Hulse wrote in his book. "The abruptness of the board's action left the impression that it had been impulsive."

Crowley, who took over for Milam and would later become the nation's longest serving president by 1999, said the firings were unsettling.

"There were three firings in a row at the time," Crowley said. "That produced some sense of uncertainty and questions about what's going on."

With a new administration and slow change on the board, tensions eased; however, three decades later there was discord again, this time over University of Nevada, Las Vegas President Bob Maxson, who served from 1984 to 1992.

Maxson, who was otherwise liked by the regents, became embroiled in controversy when he fired men's basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, a popular figure who had brought UNLV lots of wins but was cited for several National Collegiate Athletics Association violations in connection with his recruiting.

"While the NCAA was on the Las Vegas campus, (Tarkanian) was back in New York recruiting basketball players illegally," said former Regent Dorothy Gallagher. "He thought he was bullet-proof."

Gallagher said regents felt pressured by Tarkanian fans to fire Maxson. In the process, she said she received three death threats and had security walk her to and from her car.

"Maxson didn't do a thing with Tarkanian that the regents hadn't told him to do," said former Regent Dorothy Gallagher. "Then he got crucified. That was not the firing of a coach, that was taking on a cult."

Gallagher said she doesn't know what to think of the removal of Remington but worried it might have happened because of the problems the institutional presidents in the southern part of the state have had in recent years.

"Since I've been a regent I haven't seen a president come out of Las Vegas unscathed," Gallagher said. "It's just the way it is."