YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
While clad in a hoodie tightened around his face to obscure his identity, the person who would become Missouri State University’s 12th president crafted an obscene display of vegetables on the porch of a Utah Tech University colleague.
MSU President Richard “Biff” Williams later admitted to the prank, which he committed Nov. 8, 2023, at the home of a Utah Tech vice president, in an email to the MSU community Saturday that was shared with Springfield Business Journal. The statement follows a Nov. 7 lawsuit that alleges, in part, that Williams and other top leaders at Utah Tech established a “poisoned well,” with alleged discrimination and retaliation against the plaintiffs surrounding Title IX protections.
In an email to MSU students, faculty and staff, Williams wrote, “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. The incident is now included in a lawsuit that was shared with the media.”
The MSU Board of Governors issued a statement sharing their support for Williams, though it is not clear when they learned of the incident outlined in the suit. A closed emergency session of the board was held Friday afternoon, according to university officials.
An allegation of the act described is spelled out in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Southern Region. Williams is one of 30 defendants, both individuals and institutions, named in a case brought by three Utah Tech officials charged with enforcing that university’s Title IX gender equity compliance. Williams was president of Utah Tech before being hired to preside over MSU. The complaint filed with the lawsuit describes a phallic display made of a long zucchini and two round eggplants in the shape of male genitalia. Along with the display, Williams left a note describing the display as a “zuweenie,” and he signed the names of the three plaintiffs without their knowledge. His own name was not included on the note.
The suit lists 14 causes of action, including discrimination and retaliation, and seeks damages in an undisclosed amount and a jury trial. It says that in their work on campus, the plaintiffs tried “to establish an environment free from harassment and discrimination. Yet in doing so, they faced resistance, intimidation, harassment and retaliation from Utah Tech’s highest leaders.”
Williams’ email to the MSU community does not make mention of the particulars of the incident or other claims in the suit.
The MSU Board of Governors issued a statement Saturday expressing its confidence in Williams.
“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.”
Rowena Stone, secretary to the MSU Board of Governors, confirmed the board held an emergency meeting on Friday. Noting all board members were present, she cited two specific statutes for closing the meeting:
In the university community email, Williams further apologized for what he called the “undue attention” the incident has brought to MSU.
“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 said.
Unanimous pick
Williams was the unanimous choice of the MSU Board of Governors to replace Clif Smart. The announcement of his selection was made March 4 and he started in the role on July 1.
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 on the front porch of the Utah Tech’s vice president of marketing and communications, Jordon Sharp, who had just had an outpatient vasectomy procedure. Sharp is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Williams signed a resignation agreement on Dec. 21, 2023, and that agreement is included in court documents as an exhibit filed with the lawsuit.
SBJ asked MSU’s office of strategic communications by email whether the hiring committee that unanimously selected Williams from among three finalists was aware of the allegations regarding the vegetable display. The officials said they would respond later today to the question regarding what the search committee knew at the time of Williams’ hire.
University communications officials denied SBJ’s requests for interviews with Williams and a representative of the MSU Board of Governors. An email from SBJ asking board Chair Lynn Parman whether the search committee knew of the prank allegations received no response by deadline.
Denial and cover-up alleged
The complaint states that following the prank, Sharp phoned Williams to ask whether he was the perpetrator of the prank.
“Sharp texted Williams photos of the vulgar display, the note with plaintiffs’ names on it, and the Ring doorbell footage showing a man (Williams) with a hoodie – cinched to disguise his face – making the delivery,” the complaint states. “Williams denied having any knowledge of, or involvement in, the delivery to Sharp.”
The complaint adds that Williams did not take any action to halt further dissemination of the photos and information associating the plaintiffs with the obscene display. The complaint outlines other Utah Tech administrators who were contacted and shown photos of the display and the note.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Rebecca 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.
The complaint filed in the Utah court raises concerns about a possible “poisoned well” at Williams’ former university when it comes to the investigation and enforcement of antidiscrimination laws.
“This case centers on a public university, Utah Tech University, that has continuously and openly flouted the protections of Title IX,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs, in their respective capacities within Utah Tech’s offices of general counsel and Title IX, worked hard to establish an environment free from harassment and discrimination. Yet in doing so, they faced resistance, intimidation, harassment and retaliation from Utah Tech’s highest leaders.”
The suit also alleges that the obscenity was followed by a sham investigation and a cover-up.
“Still worse, plaintiffs have lost all support in their roles as Title IX and equity compliance officials, advisers and supervisors at Utah Tech, leaving one of Utah’s largest learning institutions devoid of Congress’ civil rights protections,” the complaint states.
The obscene display and the note crediting Title IX compliance officials were allegedly retaliatory acts involving an earlier incident, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges Sharp and members of his University Marketing and Communications team displayed in a campus break room “highly obscene and vulgar sexual comments with their names attributed to the comments."
The plaintiffs offered what is described as a legally mandated response to the break room posts in September 2021. Their response is described in the lawsuit as the “September 2021 Incident.”
“Sharp and his UMAC team’s gross misconduct was minimized by human resources and Williams; plaintiffs were required to continue working directly with Sharp and his UMAC team; and plaintiffs were viewed unfavorably by Sharp, other senior administrators and the UMAC department, for simply fulfilling their job responsibilities,” the complaint states.
The complaint states the incident resulted in Utah Tech’s senior leaders questioning the processes of the Office of Equity and Compliance, as well as the plaintiffs’ authority under those processes and their professionalism and motives.
“Thus, a ‘poisoned well’ and hostile work environment were created for plaintiffs,” the lawsuit states.
A complaint to the Utah Board of Higher Education alleged that Williams violated two Utah Tech policies: abusive conduct and university president ethical responsibilities. Since the board accepted Williams’ resignation, those complaints were dismissed, but a complaint of Title IX sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation remains active, according to a letter from the board included with the complaint.
SBJ reached out to university officials by email with questions about the potential for a similar result under Williams’ leadership at MSU. The officials included MSU Faculty Senate Chair Scott Zimmerman, Director of Institutional Equity and Compliance and Title IX Coordinator Melissa D. Berry, Provost John Jasinski (also a finalist for the MSU presidency) and the Student Government Association. No responses were provided by deadline.
Along with Williams and Sharp, the other defendants named are Del Beatty, Michael Lacourse, Henrie Walton, Tiffany Wilson, Utah Tech University, Geoff Landward, Utah Board of Higher Education, Utah System of Higher Education, The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Alison Adams, Eric Pedersen, Matt Black, Jyl Hall, Jared Madsen, Stacy Schmidt, Brooke Ulrich, Travis Rosenberg, Courtney White and 10 unnamed individuals.
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