MSU board takes no action regarding president named in federal lawsuit

Missouri State University President Richard “Biff” Williams remains at his post after two closed-door meetings of the MSU Board of Governors following the news of Williams being named in a federal lawsuit related to Title IX violations.

No action was taken at either meeting, according to MSU communications officials, and the board’s statement expressing their confidence in Williams’ leadership is the only statement it has made on the lawsuit filed this month alleging discrimination and retaliation by Williams and others.

The board met in closed Zoom meetings on Nov. 8 and 13 regarding the lawsuit in Utah, where Williams presided over Utah Tech University through Jan. 5 before being tapped for MSU’s top post by the board in March.

Williams took office less than five months ago on July 1. Prior to his hiring, Williams was the subject of a Title IX complaint at Utah Tech, but MSU officials were unaware of the situation, according to the university’s vice president of marketing and communications, Suzanne Shaw.

The lawsuit brought by three Utah Tech leaders lists 14 causes of action, according to the Nov. 7 filing, including discrimination and retaliation related to Title IX protections, and seeks a jury trial. The plaintiffs all continue to work at Utah Tech, though plaintiff Rebecca Broadbent has been on involuntary administrative leave during the investigation.

Williams is the first of 30 defendants, both individuals and institutions, named in the suit that raises concerns about a possible “poisoned well” at Utah Tech when it comes to the investigation and enforcement of antidiscrimination laws.

“The board was not aware of the situation when they offered the position to President Williams,” Shaw wrote to Springfield Business Journal on Nov. 13. “In mid-June, he informed the chair of the board of governors that there was an issue. The board only recently became aware of the extent of the circumstances.”

Shaw’s communication came at the conclusion of the second closed meeting. After its emergency meeting Nov. 8, the board released a statement expressing its confidence in Williams and his ability to lead MSU. Of the Nov. 13 meeting, Shaw said, “They were taking the opportunity to review the situation in more detail.”

As previously reported in SBJ, the incident at the heart of the investigation is an act involving a display of vegetables, specifically a long zucchini and two round eggplants arranged in the shape of male genitalia and placed on a fellow administrator’s porch. Williams later admitted to creating the display, and he was photographed by a doorbell camera while he was making it, his features obscured in a cinched hoodie.

Along with the display, Williams left a letter falsely signed with the names of three administrators who were responsible for Title IX enforcement at Utah Tech, and he did not include his own name. These colleagues are the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit: Broadbent, Utah Tech’s most senior female administrator and the general counsel of Utah Tech; Jared Rasband, senior associate general counsel; and Hazel Sainsbury, a Black woman and the university’s director of equity compliance and Title IX coordinator.

Williams referred to the display as a “zuweenie” in the note.

The suit alleges that the obscene display was followed by a sham investigation and a cover-up.

Williams resigned from the Utah Tech presidency and went on the job market in the middle of the 2023-24 academic year. At the time, he said the resignation was to pursue other career opportunities. His resignation was signed approximately six weeks after he created the vegetable display.

Campus concerns
Members of the campus community have expressed concern about Williams’ leadership in light of the lawsuit and news about the lewd act – characterized by Williams as a prank – that prompted it.

Williams attempted to quell some of the concern with an apology during the Nov. 12 meeting of the MSU Student Governors Association, first reported by the Springfield Daily Citizen. Williams reportedly said that the Title IX process is confidential, but he told the board about the situation before he moved to Springfield.

Days before, in a Nov. 9 email to MSU students, faculty and staff, Williams wrote of the incident at Utah Tech, saying, “While I was there, I initiated what I intended to be a humorous gesture toward a member of our staff. I have since come to realize that the prank was not appropriate. This was a mistake. I regret my lapse in judgment, and I accept this as a learning moment.”

William Harwood, associate professor of political science and philosophy and president of the MSU advocacy chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which has a long history of upholding Title IX, said members are concerned about the allegations of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Harwood submitted a statement by the chapter.

“We hope that this will spur MSU in appointing an organizational ombudsperson to further ensure that there are clear pathways for our MSU community to raise any and all workplace harassment complaints, that such complaints will be taken seriously and claimants will be protected throughout the process, and that those tasked with investigating them will be empowered at the highest levels,” the statement reads.

How seriously the MSU administration will take issues of gender and other discrimination with Williams at its helm is the most pressing concern for many in the campus community.

In a public Facebook post, one faculty member, Shurita Thomas-Tate, associate professor in the School of Health Care Professions and a member of the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education, raised another issue: that of MSU’s vaunted public affairs mission, which includes ethical leadership.

“The three pillars of the public affairs mission at MSU are: ethical leadership, cultural competence, community engagement,” Thomas-Tate posted. “Let’s see how the board of governors responds. Who are we, Missouri State University? What will we stand for?”

The lawsuit
The lawsuit was filed against Williams on Nov. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Southern Region. Reporting by Utah media immediately followed.

In the Nov. 9 email to the MSU campus community, Williams apologized for what he referred to as the “undue attention” the incident brought to MSU.

Williams also appeared to address an issue at the center of the lawsuit, which maintains that he and other top officials at Utah Tech established a “poisoned well” – that is, a climate that discouraged that campus community from pursuing Title IX protections.

“This experience continues to remind me how important it is to always strive to foster a campus environment that is safe and welcoming to all students, faculty and staff,” he wrote.

As the news of the lawsuit broke, the MSU Board of Governors released a statement Nov. 9 that indicated their support of Williams and also stressed a welcoming environment.

“The Board of Governors of Missouri State University is aware of the pending lawsuit and continues to have confidence in President Williams’ ability to lead Missouri State University,” the statement reads. “We are committed to working alongside him to ensure that the university is a safe and welcoming environment to all students, faculty and staff.”

Fear of exposure
Fear of public knowledge of the vegetable incident was on Williams’ mind in the days following the act, according to the lawsuit complaint. About a week after the incident, plaintiff Broadbent, Utah Tech’s general counsel, reported it to Williams, not knowing that he was the perpetrator, the complaint states. It says Broadbent expressed concern that the action was in retaliation for earlier equity compliance issues involving administrators. Williams dismissed Broadbent’s concerns, according to the complaint, and he asked her to invite the other two people named in the note – the future plaintiffs – to visit him so that he could assure them their complaints were not real and that they were “loved” and “part of the family,” the complaint states.

The complaint adds that immediately following the meeting, Williams went into the adjoining office of his chief of staff, Courtney White – now the interim president of Utah Tech.

“Williams expressed to White his concern that he would end up on the front page of the Chronicle of Higher (Education),” the complaint states, referring to a national weekly publication devoted to issues in higher education.

Williams earned an annual salary of $357,000 at Utah Tech prior to his separation, according to officials with the Utah System of Higher Education. In his separation agreement with Utah Tech, signed on Dec. 21, 2023, he is guaranteed the same $357,000 sum for his transition year in the period of Jan. 6, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2025.

The transition year is part of a Utah System of Higher Education policy that exists, according to policy language, “to provide for the orderly transition of executive positions.”

At MSU, Williams’ annual base salary is $475,000, plus an annual housing allowance of $50,000 and up to $50,000 in annual incentive payments based upon the achievement of specified metrics, according to past SBJ reporting. Smart retired at a base salary of $427,409.

MSU received 48 applications for the presidency through an in-house national search, according to past reporting.

Lynn Parman, president of the MSU Board of Governors, said this summer, “Biff is joining us as the president at a time when MSU is considered a true state university that is poised to become a great public university.”

She added Williams is a strategic thinker, and there is evidence of his use of the strategic long-range planning process at Utah Tech to propel the institution forward with an engaged campus and impactful projects. During his decade at Utah Tech, Williams oversaw massive growth, including a doubling of enrollment, the establishment of hundreds of new academic programs and a vigorous facilities program. The university also completed a transition from Division II to Division I athletics and a name change from Dixie State University.

“The board envisions him making similar strides at MSU,” Parman said.