Golden apparently will be paid at least $225K to leave Wichita State in his first year

Jay Golden, who resigned without explanation as Wichita State University’s president last week after nine months on the job, will continue to get paid until June 2021 for “consulting services,” according to a document obtained by The Wichita Eagle through the Kansas Open Records Act.

It’s unclear what consulting services Golden is expected to provide.

The document outlining the terms of Golden’s departure was provided by the Kansas Board of Regents in response to a request for Golden’s resignation letter.

Instead, the Regents provided a letter addressed to Golden from Regents President Blake Flanders “that acknowledges President Golden’s decision to step down and the terms of this transition.”

Golden will continue to get paid two-thirds of his salary as of Sept. 25. It’s unclear exactly what that number is. His base annual salary in 2020 was $450,000, but he was also eligible for additional compensation.

Officials with the Kansas Board of Regents were not immediately available for comment.

Over nine months, it appears he will receive at least $225,000, plus benefits and the cost of moving.

The document offers details into the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to Golden’s resignation but does little to quell concerns he was pushed out under pressure from donors.

Elizabeth King, president of the Wichita State University Foundation, confirmed Wednesday that the cost of Golden’s consulting fees will be paid by the foundation, the fundraising arm of the university that supports the school with money collected through donations.

“The WSU Foundation received a request from the Kansas Board of Regents to fund the consulting services Dr. Golden has agreed to provide to Wichita State,” King said. “In the interest of supporting the Kansas Board of Regents and Wichita State University, the Foundation’s Board of Directors has agreed to provide this funding.”

Wichita State University faculty leaders have been pushing for an explanation of Golden’s resignation.

The faculty senate president said earlier this week that the Kansas Board of Regents has damaged public trust by not giving a reason for the sudden departure by one the state’s highest paid public officials after less than a year on the job.

“At a time when we are dealing with significant budget cuts, a pandemic and now a controversial resignation of the university president, the Board of Regents has a responsibility to rebuild the trust with faculty, staff, students and the larger WSU community,” Faculty Senate President Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn said.

But it appears answers to why Golden left won’t come easily.

The Kansas Board of Regents has declined to provide additional details. Wichita State administrators say they have been given no explanation. And Golden has not responded to requests for comment.

Even the governor’s office says it doesn’t know why Golden resigned so abruptly.

“The governor’s only control is appointing Regents, and we’ve only appointed three of them so far,” Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers, of Wichita, said. “Most of the regents are still there from previous administrations.”

Rogers would not speculate on the reason for Golden’s departure but stressed the importance of filling the vacancy with a qualified candidate who can lead the university through a turbulent time in higher education.

“These kinds of cases can really create problems for recruiting the next president,” Rogers, a former Wichita Board of Education president, said.

“The leadership at each of our schools is really so important. It really does make a difference. For Wichita State, it’s such a huge organization for the well-being of the whole city and the whole region that we really need to have top-notch administrators there.”

The Regents’ silence is amplifying speculation that Golden was ousted under pressure from donors, Sternfeld-Dunn said.

Acting president and provost Richard Muma told the Faculty Senate Monday that privacy laws forbid him and the Regents from giving information about Golden’s departure, including whether he was forced out or resigned voluntarily. Either way, Muma said he is ready to move past the resignation.

“We are committed to moving forward and not looking in the rear-view mirror,” Muma told faculty senators.

It was an unsatisfying answer to some senators, who represent their colleagues on university matters at Wichita State.

“I know we’re not allowed to look backwards,” assistant professor in physics Terrance Figy said. “But I think it might be appropriate to have some sort of understanding of why this occurred.

“I mean, a sudden resignation is quite worrisome. ... I think it’s something that needs to be understood — because if there’s something in the culture at WSU, it needs to be addressed. I think we need to address it and then we can move forward.”

Faculty Senate weighs options

Without answers, Wichita State’s Faculty Senate, a key constituency at many universities, is weighing what to do next, from filing open records requests to questioning individual Regents at a future meeting.

One faculty member suggested a vote of no confidence in the Board of Regents. Another suggested the faculty senate shouldn’t antagonize the board and should instead try to mend the relationship with Regents.

But the faculty was hesitant to take any concrete stance without more facts.

Some said they would like to hear from Golden directly.

Under Golden’s exit agreement with the Board of Regents, Golden is banned from having “official communications with Wichita State University faculty, staff, or friends of the University” without the approval of the interim or acting president.

Golden’s resignation came three months after a handful of donors called for his resignation for canceling Ivanka Trump as the keynote speaker at WSU Tech’s virtual graduation ceremony.

Regent Jon Rolph, a Wichita restaurateur, told The Wichita Eagle that he could not provide any explanation for Golden’s resignation other than to say that it was not related to the Ivanka Trump flap.

But without a better explanation, the mystery surrounding Golden’s resignation is fueling speculation that Golden was ousted for that decision, Sternfeld-Dunn said.

“Reality and truth are only part of the public perception of the events in our lives,” Sternfeld-Dunn said. “I am willing to cede that there may be a reality that the faculty, staff and students did not see that required such an abrupt departure. However, at this point, the perceptions put the future of our university at risk.

“Nobody can deny the perception is a president, who was well-liked by faculty, staff and students, made a value judgment that was disliked by donors, who have loud voices in our community, and was then dismissed by the Board of Regents for that judgment.”

As protests broke out across the nation protesting police brutality in the wake of the George Floyd killing in early June, Ivanka Trump was involved in a controversial decision by her father, President Donald Trump, to forcibly remove a group of peaceful protesters from a park near the White House so he could pose in front of a church with a Bible.

Four days after the photo-op, and as protests of police brutality in Wichita grew larger by the night, WSU Tech announced Ivanka Trump would be the commencement speaker.

A protest petition and open letter circulated online in early June denouncing the decision to provide a platform for Ivanka Trump in light of the protests. Hundreds of signatures were gathered in a few hours before WSU and WSU Tech announced she would no longer be the keynote speaker.

Ivanka Trump had been invited as a speaker by WSU Tech President Sheree Utash, who later apologized and called the timing of the announcement insensitive. Golden took responsibility for the decision and promised better communications in the future.

Ivanka Trump was replaced by Rebecca Zinabu, a Black female and WSU Tech practical nursing graduate.

The donor complaints prompted the Board of Regents to call a four-hour, closed-door meeting with Golden to discuss his future at the university.

When the meeting was over, Golden still had his job but no one would comment on what happened during the closed session.

Sternfeld-Dunn said his biggest worry is that the next president won’t be able to shake the fear of being fired for making decisions that don’t align with the Board of Regents, creating an atmosphere where the new president is constantly looking over their shoulder to make sure they haven’t upset the donor base.

“I worry that they will second guess themselves around each corner for fear of an angry donor. ... I worry about a taller hurdle of trust that the next president will have to pass with our university community to demonstrate a commitment to shared governance and not just commitment to select members of the Wichita State community.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 1:43 PM.