The assaulted chancellor of the University of California, Davis, resigned on Tuesday, said the president of the university system, after accusations that the school spent $ 175,000 to suppress negative publications on the Internet, prompting an ethical investigation.
Linda Katehi was assigned an administrative license in April, a few days after the Sacramento Bee newspaper published documents showing that the university paid consultants at least $ 175,000 to combat negative publications about the school and Katehi after the police of campus fumigates student protesters in 2011.
As a result of the news, the President of the UC Office, Janet Napolitano, began an investigation into the denunciations of social networks and other issues, including the employment of Katehi's direct relatives on the campus.
A redacted copy of the report provided by the university system said that Katehi cheated and potentially lied to Napolitano and the public that she was not involved in the social media campaign.
The report also said that while there was no evidence of nepotism regarding the hiring of her son and daughter-in-law at school, Katehi did not strictly adhere to university policy on the matter.
] Napolitano's office said that the investigation "found that the chancellor had exercised a poor judgment, had not been sincere with the leadership of the University and had violated multiple university policies."
Katehi also faced questions about her acceptance of seats paid on the boards of DeVry Education Group and textbook editor John Wiley & Sons.
Katehi, who had been president since 2009, apologized in a letter to students in March for her role in DeVry, saying it violated UC policy and that she had resigned from the position. She said that her time between 2011 and 2014 on the board of directors of John Wiley & Sons, however, complied with the university's policy.
Melinda Guzman, Katehi's lawyer, said the investigation found "no policy violations in the areas of alleged nepotism, conflicts, financial mismanagement or personal gain."
Guzman told Reuters that Katehi would return to her faculty position as a distinguished professor at the engineering school and retain the title of chancellor emeritus.
Napolitano's office said that the search for a new chancellor would begin immediately and Provost Ralph Hexter would continue as chancellor in office.
The video that showed sitting protesters being fumigated by campus police came to symbolize the aggression of law enforcement against protesters against Wall Street. School authorities agreed in September 2012 to pay $ 1 million to settle a claim filed for the shares.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Edited by Dan Grebler)
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