Rothman Says He Was Blindsided. Regents Tell A Different Story.

Jay Rothman. Universities of Wisconsin.

Two Universities of Wisconsin regents aired criticism of President Jay Rothman during a committee hearing Thursday after Rothman said he was “blindsided” by the Board of Regent’s moves to oust him.

The board on Tuesday voted unanimously to fire Rothman following closed-door discussions.

During Thursday’s legislative hearing, Board President Amy Bogost called Rothman’s public statement’s about the matter “deliberately one-sided” while another regent, Timothy Nixon, said Rothman’s leadership style lacked the decisiveness needed for the state’s public university system.

State Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, said he called Thursday’s meeting because the public deserves answers about why regents fired Rothman.

“This is not a routine, personal matter,” said Hutton, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges. “This is the chief executive of one of the most important public institutions in our state. Decisions of this magnitude require a straightforward explanation.”

Board president says Rothman used confidentiality rules against them

Rothman had been leading the UW system since he was appointed by regents in 2022. At that time, appointees chosen by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers also controlled the board.

Rothman has said that regents have not given him a clear reason for his firing. Although he told the Associated Press he was “blindsided” by their decision, he also said he doesn’t harbor ill will and does not plan to sue.

Bogost and Nixon were the only two regents who testified Thursday before the Senate’s higher education committee. Both said Rothman had made positive contributions, but they took a more critical tone about his leadership than they had in prior board statements.

The regents said they could not publicly air personnel matters that were previously discussed during closed board meetings — unless Rothman chooses to his waive his privilege concerning the confidentiality of those meetings.

“President Rothman knows exactly what he is doing,” Bogost said, before calling Rothman’s public statements “deliberately one-sided.”

“He is a sophisticated professional who understands that personnel matters are confidential,” she added.

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman speaks during a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, at Waunakee Community High School in Waunakee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

In his own statement Thursday afternoon, Rothman said he cannot unilaterally waive the confidentiality of matters discussed after regents voted to meet in closed session.

“That is a statutory matter and the decision to meet in closed session is solely within the authority of the Board,” Rothman said. “I am prepared, however, to waive any rights to confidentiality I may have regarding any written summary of my performance evaluation which the Board prepared contemporaneously with that evaluation.”

When questioned by Hutton Thursday, Bogost said that she did not create a written version of the performance review given to Rothman, although she said she took “copious notes” for her own personal use.

Regent: Rothman moved with ‘lack of urgency’

During Thursday’s testimony, Nixon said he was at odds with what he characterized as Rothman’s “lack of urgency.” As an example, he said, for months Rothman has “blocked” UW system-wide guidance that would have dealt with artificial intelligence.

“President Rothman moves methodically; he moves deliberately,” Nixon said. “An answer a year from now or two years from now is not going to be good enough.”

Nixon characterized Rothman as someone who sought compromise and consensus — sometimes to UW’s detriment.

“He didn’t want to upset the apple cart,” Nixon said. “Quite frankly, I think the apple cart needs some upsetting.”

Nixon also noted that UW’s president is an at-will employee, who serves at the pleasure of the board.

“When you have an at-will or a probationary employee, the general recommendation is you never give them a reason for terminating the relationship, because all that would do is raise the potential for a lawsuit,” Nixon said.

In a statement released Monday, Bogost said regents fired Rothman because they had lost confidence in his leadership. She indicated that Rothman was provided notice of issues in his annual review, but Monday’s statement did not disclose what any of those problems may have been.

In contrast, Rothman has said Bogost herself characterized his latest review as “overwhelmingly positive.”

In a March 26 letter to regents that was later obtained by news outlets, Rothman told regents he would not step down voluntarily. That came after regents told him they preferred to replace him by having him resign or retire first, according to the letter.

Republican Legislature clashed with UW over funding, DEI

There’s been a long history of clashes between the university system and Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature, and that tension continued throughout Rothman’s tenure. That included criticism from Republicans over issues including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and what Republican lawmakers described as an unfriendly atmosphere to conservative viewpoints.

In 2023, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos held up previously approved raises for tens of thousands of UW employees, saying that lawmakers would only restore that money if the university system eliminated DEI programming and positions.

Rothman later helped broker a deal, in which UW agreed to freeze DEI positions in exchange for $800 million to fund the raises, as well as campus construction projects. Regents eventually approved that deal in a 11-6 vote.

Several Republican lawmakers have pointed to the timing of Rothman’s firing, suggesting that regents wanted to make sure Evers appointees have control over his replacement. Evers is not running for re-election.

Committee did not vote Thursday to advance firing regents

Hutton had previously scheduled a committee vote for Thursday that could have advanced the process of firing many of UW’s regents. Hutton ended up cancelling that vote after testimony from the regents Thursday.

During the cancelled executive session, the GOP-led committee would have voted on whether or not to recommend that the full Senate confirm or deny the appointments of 10 regents, including Bogost and Nixon.

Those regents have been serving since they were appointed by Evers, but their nominations were never confirmed by state senators. That means they could be fired at any time following a vote from the full Senate.

In a news release Thursday afternoon, Hutton said he would give regents a chance to provide more information that was requested during the hearing.

“Our committee will evaluate what we heard today and what we didn’t hear, seek out more information from UW System that the Regents told the committee is available, and decide what further actions are appropriate,” Hutton said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, the governor’s office warned that — if the Senate did move to fire regents — it would amount to “political retribution.”

“The Regents are responsible for doing what’s best for our UW System, and they should be able to do their jobs without political interference from elected officials,” Evers said in a statement. “If Republicans are going to use this as a pretext to justify firing people just because they were appointed by a Democratic governor, that would be a mistake.”

Rothman’s annual salary is $600,943. Although he’s been fired from his presidency, Rothman will continue to receive that full salary through Oct. 8, per the terms of his contract.

Vice President for University Relations Chris Patton is serving as acting executive-in-charge until an interim president is appointed.

The UW system spans 13 universities, and has an annual budget of roughly $7 billion. Regents are not paid for their positions.

UW regent calls fired president Rothman’s statements ‘deliberately one-sided’ was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.