Wichita State gets interim president amid Marshall, Golden controversies

Wichita State has a new interim president to lead the school as the Kansas Board of Regents searches for a full-time replacement for Jay Golden, who resigned without explanation late last month.

Rick Muma, provost and acting president, has been tapped as interim. By appointing Muma, the Regents avoided a fifth leadership change at WSU since January 2019, when Muma was named acting president for the first time after former president John Bardo fell ill.

Muma will have to decide how to cut the university’s budget due to shortfalls brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. He will also be the ultimate authority in the handling of an investigation into allegations of verbal and physical abuse of players and coaches by men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall.

Former president Golden exited Sept. 25 and will be paid at least $225,000 in consulting fees after just nine months at Wichita State. The Regents, Muma and Golden have all declined to discuss his sudden resignation.

The Regents have struggled to find a replacement for Bardo, who died last year. Bardo was popular with Regents and donors and ushered in the Innovation Campus industrial research park on what used to be golf course immediately east of the school’s main campus.

The Regents appointed Andy Tompkins interim president in March 2019 while they fielded a search for Bardo’s replacement. Golden was hired after a months-long secret and closed search, and he promised to carryout Bardo’s vision for the future of the university.

Muma has worked in several roles at Wichita State in his nearly 25 years on campus, most recently as provost, the chief academic officer at the school.

Regents appointed Muma nearly unanimously after a nearly one-and-a-half hour closed executive session. One voting member opposed the appointment of Muma: Wichita State’s delegate on the board, restaurateur Jon Rolph.

Rolph did not explain his vote during Wednesday’s Kansas Board of Regents meeting. He was not immediately available to comment Wednesday.