UW regents pressured president to leave

By Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporter

	MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES, 1995 Richard McCormick became UW president in 1995 and departed in fall 2002 to lead Rutgers University. McCormick recently acknowledged that the UW Board of Regents encouraged him to leave, in part because of McCormick's romantic relationship with a UW employee.
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What they didn't say, but The Seattle Times has learned, is that the board encouraged McCormick to leave.

Some regents had been unhappy with McCormick's performance for some time, and they had begun investigating reports that he was involved in an inappropriate romantic relationship with a woman in his administration.

Asked about the relationship by the regents, McCormick, who is married, denied it. But after McCormick withdrew his name from consideration for Rutgers president, the UW regents urged him to reconsider pursuing the position in New Jersey.

McCormick did, and got the job.

In several interviews with The Times in recent months, McCormick continued to deny the relationship and insisted he had not been encouraged to leave. But Friday, after learning that the newspaper was preparing to publish a story, he admitted to the affair and said it had been a factor in his departure.

The year since McCormick left has been an extraordinarily difficult one for the UW, which still is without a president. From struggles with state funding to new limits on student admissions, from the firing of football coach Rick Neuheisel to rioting on Greek Row, from the men's basketball team being placed on probation to the federal and state investigation of the team doctor for women's softball, the UW has been in front-page headlines continually.

The void at the top has been glaring. With the regents announcing recently that the UW would go at least another year without a president, the circumstances of McCormick's departure take on new weight.

Affair was the tipping point

Those circumstances came into focus in interviews conducted over the past eight months by The Times.

McCormick and the UW: a timeline June 14, 1995: The University of Washington hires Richard McCormick, the No. 2 official at the University of North Carolina, as president, ending a yearlong search. Sept. 21, 1996: McCormick receives an "A" grade from the UW Board of Regents for his first year on the job, along with deferred compensation to keep him from being lured by another university. Sept. 30, 2002: McCormick discloses he was a candidate for the presidency of Rutgers University in New Jersey, but that he had withdrawn. Oct. 18, 2002: The regents meet in a closed-door executive session to discuss McCormick's performance, including reports that he may have engaged in an inappropriate personal relationship with an employee. Oct. 25, 2002: McCormick publicly accepts the president's job at Rutgers. Nov. 13, 2002: The UW Board of Regents announces it wants to hire a new president by the summer of 2003. Sept. 19, 2003: Gerald Grinstein, president of the UW board, announces that a new president won't be named until the middle of 2004, saying the search is taking much longer than expected.

The interviews revealed two key details: Although the regents publicly praised McCormick, who had been president since 1995, some had long been unhappy with him. And the reports of the affair with the employee were the tipping point for the 10-member board.

Those reports were never fully investigated, largely because McCormick denied them and he took the Rutgers job before the allegations could be resolved. Among the issues the board faced was whether the woman had received special job benefits because of the relationship.

Sources who provided information to The Times included two UW administrators, a high-ranking state official and seven other people close to the matter. All agreed to be interviewed only on the condition they not be identified.

Board of Regents President Gerald Grinstein, who earlier had refused to confirm details of McCormick's departure, issued a written statement Friday night after learning McCormick had admitted the affair.

"Although Dick McCormick brought many important strengths to the University, the Regents were very troubled by these allegations," Grinstein said. "On behalf of the Board, I made it clear to Dick that such conduct was not acceptable and encouraged him to reconsider the opportunity at Rutgers."

On Sept. 30, 2002, McCormick publicly announced he had been a "quiet" candidate for the presidency of Rutgers, but that he had decided to stay at the UW.

Eighteen days later, records show, the regents met in a closed-door executive session from 7:30 to 9 a.m. to "review the performance of public employees." McCormick was not in the room, as he normally was during regents' public meetings, and the sources said the session was to discuss McCormick, including the alleged relationship.

After the session, Grinstein met with McCormick.

Regents 'relieved' at departure

On Oct. 25, McCormick publicly accepted the Rutgers job, which, at $525,000, pays more than the $295,000 he was drawing from the UW.

The UW regents were "pleased and relieved" at the news, the sources said. Although the university has no rule prohibiting intimate relationships between administrators and subordinates, the regents avoided what they felt might become an "ugly and messy" employment matter, whatever the end result, the sources said.

In earlier interviews with The Times, McCormick insisted that no one on the board encouraged him to leave, and that he made the decision on his own. He said that after initially withdrawing from consideration for the Rutgers job, he changed his mind because he saw it as the chance of a lifetime. He grew up in New Jersey, both of his parents had taught at Rutgers and he began his academic career there.

	Rickard McCormick

But McCormick now acknowledges that before leaving the UW, he knew the regents had become aware of "rumors" that he was involved in an inappropriate relationship.

McCormick said that was one factor that led him to accept the Rutgers job, along with his ties to that school and the chance to shape higher education in his home state.

He said he also weighed his commitment to the UW and his family's reluctance to leave Seattle.

McCormick's wife, Suzanne Lebsock, is a nationally recognized historian who taught at the UW and moved to Rutgers with McCormick.

"This was a major decision for me and I was torn in a number of directions," McCormick said. "Ultimately, the opportunity to return to Rutgers exerted the greatest pull."

McCormick declined to discuss details of his conversations with the UW regents. He said he had denied the relationship in previous interviews with The Times in hopes that a story would not be published.

"I obviously did not want it to run because it is so personally painful and embarrassing," he said. "I also did not want this to run because of the pain and embarrassment that it will cause to those close to me, my wife, my children, my parents, and also the other person in question and her family."

McCormick, 55, said he decided to "amend" his prior statements after doing a "great deal of soul-searching." He said he decided he must face the situation, which he termed the "most difficult of my life."

"I believe in honesty, integrity and openness and realize I must adhere to those ideals," he said, calling the relationship a mistake that he and his family will have to deal with in private.

Rutgers' Board of Trustees declined comment, said Kim Manning-Lewis, Rutgers' executive director of university relations.

	Gerald Grinstein

McCormick was the first UW president in 50 years to leave for another university. His departure at the beginning of a school year was particularly bad timing for the university. Typically, education leaders wait until the end of the academic year.

McCormick was replaced by Provost Lee Huntsman as interim president. Huntsman has been praised by the regents as an able caretaker, but the absence of an anointed leader has been cause for growing concern on campus.

The regents announced in late September that they do not expect to name a new president until the middle of next year. That won't be in time for the start of the next state Legislature in January.

In a recent editorial, the university's student newspaper, The Daily, said: "We are leaderless, and will be for an entire year. The University desperately needs a strong leader to face higher tuition, fewer class offerings and an athletic department unable to avoid the headlines."

At the time of McCormick's departure, the UW regents were: Grinstein, former chairman of Burlington Northern; Dan Evans, former governor and U.S. senator; Costco founder Jeff Brotman; Seattle attorney William Gates Sr., father of the Microsoft chairman; Shelly Yapp, director of redevelopment for Seattle Center; Sally Jewell, chief operating officer of REI; Ark Chin, a retired engineer; Seattle attorney Constance Proctor; and two others no longer on the board — Cindy Zehnder, president of the TVW public-affairs station; and David Moore-Reeploeg, a student regent.

Job performance a concern

Board members are not allowed to discuss what occurs in an executive session. State law limits executive-session topics to a narrow range of subjects, such as employment matters and publicly bid contracts. The board is required only to provide a general description of subject matters when it goes into executive session.

The session in which the regents discussed McCormick's conduct also focused on other "performance issues" related to his regular duties, a source said.

Some were concerned that McCormick's long hours were affecting his performance. And while he had had success raising money from donors and for research, they felt he had not been an effective advocate for the UW in Olympia. His credibility with state legislators and with the UW faculty had diminished, the sources said.

State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said, "I found him very effective in many ways, but there were always some aspects that were bothersome to me."

Kohl-Welles emphasized she was reluctantly speaking about McCormick because she teaches at the UW and deeply cares about the institution. She said McCormick followed her advice to reach out to broad array of legislators, including lawmakers from rural areas who viewed the UW as elitist.

But at other times, she said, legislators questioned his willingness to follow through with promises.

While McCormick had "terrific strengths," Kohl-Welles said, "I don't think he lived up to his potential."

David Hodge, dean of the UW College of Arts and Sciences, defended McCormick, saying he was a strong leader who guided the university through a challenging time, particularly one of the worst budget episodes in state history.

"Did Dick McCormick do a good job? Yes, flat out," Hodge said.

Hodge noted that most university presidents serve for five or six years, in part because they make tough decisions that leave some people unhappy.

Michael Halleran, dean of arts and humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences, said McCormick was not one of the best UW presidents, but he performed well and cannot be blamed for the school's budget woes.

"Fundamentally, I think he did a very good job," Halleran said.

At Rutgers, McCormick made headlines in September when police in New Jersey found him to have alcohol on his breath after leaving the scene of a minor accident in a parking lot.

McCormick said he didn't realize a collision had occurred. He blamed the incident on fatigue, saying he had consumed a glass and a half of red wine during dinner.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com

COPYRIGHT 2003, THE SEATTLE TIMES CO.