USC Professors renew call for President's departure

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August 1, 2018 2:18 PM

The announcement came after a sustained outcry from faculty, students and alumni over the way the administration dealt with George Tyndall.

It has been two months since officials at the University of Southern California announced that the university’s president, C.L. Max Nikias, would resign.

The announcement came after a sustained outcry from faculty, students and alumni over the way the administration dealt with George Tyndall, a longtime gynecologist accused of inappropriate behavior for decades. The faculty offered a vote of no confidence, and hundreds of top professors publicly called for his resignation.

But while the board of trustees announced May 25 that Nikias “agreed to begin an orderly transition” to a new administration, little has changed on campus this summer. Now, more than 650 professors have signed a letter demanding that he leave before students arrive this month.

“With no follow-up regarding an interim president or a presidential search process, we find ourselves in a state of turmoil and uncertainty,” the letter addressed to the board of trustees said. “President Nikias cannot be the one who stands up to greet the new students at the convocation. If he is, we face the prospect of student protests and walkouts, parent outrage, and a broad public perception that we have gone back on our commitment to accountability and transparency, as the world outside USC believes he has already resigned.”

Brenda Maceo, the university’s vice president for public relations and marketing, said in an email that Nikias is on vacation, as is his top deputy, provost Michael Quick. In their absence, Jim Staten, the chief financial officer of the university, is acting president until Quick returns, she said.

The board of trustees is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Maceo said, and will vote then on the formation of a presidential search committee that will work with a recruiter to make recommendations to the board. She added that Rick Caruso, the chairman of the board, “has had a number of constructive conversations with students, faculty, staff and alumni about the future of the university and its next president and will continue to seek broad input.”

Still, Maceo could not say whether Nikias will step down so that an interim president can take his place during the search.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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