UC President Janet Napolitano announced today (Aug. 9) that she had accepted Linda P.B. Katehi's offer to resign as ºÙºÙÊÓƵ chancellor. Later in the afternoon, Ralph J. Hexter, acting chancellor since April 27, issued the following statement:
“Today’s news ends a period of uncertainty at ºÙºÙÊÓƵ. The resolution announced by President Napolitano permits us to focus all our efforts on moving the campus forward so that we can serve California, the nation and the world ever more effectively.â€
Here is President Napolitano's announcement, sent via email to the campus community:
On April 25, 2016, I met privately with Linda Katehi to discuss a series of misjudgments and policy violations of such a serious nature that she should resign her position as chancellor of ºÙºÙÊÓƵ. Regrettably, Chancellor Katehi refused to resign and made public statements to campus leadership and others that she intended to remain as chancellor. I then placed Chancellor Katehi on immediate administrative leave and authorized the hiring of an outside firm to investigate a number of concerns.
The investigation is now concluded, and it found numerous instances where Chancellor Katehi was not candid, either with me, the press or the public, that she exercised poor judgment and violated multiple university policies. In these circumstances, Chancellor Katehi has now offered to resign, and I have accepted that resignation. These past three months and the events leading up to them have been an unhappy chapter in the life of ºÙºÙÊÓƵ. I believe it is in the best interest of the campus, the Davis community and the University of California that we move forward.
Chancellor Katehi will transition to becoming a full-time faculty member in accordance with the terms of her pre-existing contract. We will immediately form a search committee and conduct a national search for a new chancellor to lead this extraordinary campus. Ralph Hexter will continue in his role leading the campus during the pendency of the search. The Office of the President will support and work with Davis’ faculty, students, staff and community to ensure the campus continues its impressive upward trajectory.
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Dana Topousis, dtopousis@ucdavis.edu