WSU is also dealing with a lawsuit pertaining to its canceled presidential debate and details emerged from a deposition of president David Hopkins.
Below is a summary of each news story. Click on the links for more.
A former Wright State University consultant claims in a $1 million lawsuit that the Commission on Presidential Debates pulled the first 2016 debate from the university because of the school’s “incompetence.”
The lawsuit filed by John McCance in Greene County Common Pleas Court contradicts President David Hopkins announcement on July 19 that the university chose to withdraw from the Sept. 26 debate because of rising costs.
The lawsuit claims the debate commission pulled the event from WSU because of the “incompetence of certain WSU staff, as well as the epic gross buffoonery and carnival type atmosphere on the main campus with all the infighting and lack of support and finger pointing.”
Cheryl Schrader was named Wright State’s seventh president Monday, becoming the school’s first female leader and inheriting its financial problems, declining enrollment, the possibility of more budget cuts and potential changes in higher education.
“I am honored and humbled to become Wright State’s seventh president,” Schrader said.
Schrader, who currently serves as chancellor of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, will start her job at WSU in July.
Wright State University President David Hopkins fired the school’s senior advisor to the provost because federal prosecutors led him to believe the administrator would be indicted for visa fraud, filings in a lawsuit show.
Ryan Fendley was fired in August 2015 in the midst of a federal probe into possible visa fraud. Fendley later sued the university, and recent court records as part of that lawsuit reveal new information about an investigation that began more than two years ago.
Fendley says the university can point to no reason for his firing in August 2015.
Wright State University will lose a leader who helped the school raise $163 million in its “Rise. Shine.” campaign.
Bill Shepard, vice president for advancement and the WSU foundation, will leave the college for a similar job at Eastern Michigan University, according to a statement from EMU.
Shepard has worked at Wright State for more than 30 years in multiple leadership positions.
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