Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle leaves the university after a 10-hour meeting with the university’s Board of Trustees who voted to place him on paid administrative leave. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Following an investigation into the spending practices of his administration, Westfield State University President Dr. Evan Dobelle resigned from his position in early November, ending a tenure in which the university saw unprecedented growth and, as revealed in an audit report from a Braintree-based accounting firm, rampant policy violations related to spending on travel, accommodations, and entertainment.
So began a public relations nightmare for the institution, which led to the temporary freezing of almost $200,000 in designated funds by state Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Freeland, a vote of no-confidence from the University’s teachers and faculty, and even pressure from Governor Deval Patrick for the University’s Board of Trustees to address Dobelle’s future.
Dobelle was placed on administrative leave with pay following an excruciating executive session at the Horace Mann Center on October 16, a meeting which was scheduled after Dobelle missed deadlines to explain his spending.
Westfield State University students hold signs in opposition to WSU President Evan Dobelle’s comment in a The Boston Globe article about some students being “throwaway kids.” Dobelle in an earlier meeting said the statement was possibly taken out of context and that he spent funds treating three disadvantaged students to New York in a limo in 2009. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
That night students held signs petitioning the trustees not to “reward greed”, and others announced that the “throwaway kids” were “fighting back”, a tacit slam at Dobelle’s reference to the school’s low-income students as “throwaway kids” in an interview published in the Boston Globe.
A meeting which began at 2 p.m. that afternoon ended at 12:45 a.m. the following morning, with Board Chairman John Flynn III stating that the trustees had retained the services of the Boston-based law firm Fish and Richardson to conduct its own report on the findings of State Inspector General Glenn Cunha, due in November.
Following Dobelle’s suspension, his publicist, George Regan, issued a statement implying legal action, which Dobelle’s attorney, Ross Garber, said he “would not be surprised to take soon.”
Ross H. Garber, an attorney for Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle, presented a brief speech after members of the WSU Board of trustees voted to place Dobelle on administrative leave pending an investigation on spending procedures at the university. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
“The violation of law and the violation of Mr. Dobelle’s legal rights must be remedied,” he said.
Sure enough, Dobelle and his legal team filed a federal lawsuit on October 24 against Commissioner Freeland, Chairman Flynn, two other board members, as well as all members of the board’s Executive Committee, the lawyer for the Board of Trustees James B. Cox, the Braintree accounting firm of O’Connor and Drew, and the Boston law firm of Rudin and Rudman.
The saga then took an unexpected turn on November 8, when Dobelle notified the trustees of his decision to retire, effective immediately.
While the university and it’s now-former president remain entangled in the legal process, further instigated by Dobelle’s legal team billing the University for services to their client, the institution began the process of beginning the post-Dobelle era at a trustees meeting on November 26, appointing Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Elizabeth Preston as Interim President.
WSU INTERIM PRESIDENT ELIZABETH HALL PRESTON
The board also concluded in November the findings of the Fish and Richardson investigation were obviated by Dobelle’s retirement.
University policy has already seen change under Preston, as the school has clamped down on its once-neglected credit card policy, beginning at a trustees meeting earlier this month in which the board made the unanimous decision to continue the reduction of cards issued to university personnel and to formally adopt a new procurement card program.
The number of university credit cards, once as high as 40, had been cut almost in half, according to Westfield State Budget Director John Wesolowski, who added that the institution now has the second fewest university-issued credit cards of any of its sister institutions.
Preston’s appointment has drawn praise from board members, especially its Chair.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Dr. Preston since I started,” said Flynn. “Right now, this university benefits tremendously from Dr. Preston’s experiences here, her understanding and commitment to our university. We clearly need strong leadership at this point, and in my opinion, Dr. Preston is precisely the person to do that.”
