OSU’s silence continues while its Faculty Council expresses thanks for Kayse Shrum’s tenure

A lot of people connected with Oklahoma State University liked now-former OSU President Kayse Shrum and have been vocal in saying so since her sudden resignation became publicly known on Tuesday.

But even as the university, and the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, maintains radio silence about the “why” behind Shrum’s departure after less than four years in office, it’s clear Shrum wasn’t so chummy with members of the nine-person regents board that oversees the university. The internal conflict, according to multiple media reports, boiled over last Friday during a regular meeting of the board.

Documents obtained by online news agency NonDoc appear to show four motions approved by regents during the meeting, after a long executive session concerning a review of the OSU Innovation Foundation, a favored project of Shrum which was rebranded in 2023 from its former name, the Oklahoma State University Research Foundation. Shrum said then the foundation was “a crucial pillar of our We Are Land-Grant strategy” she forged during her tenure.

The NonDoc report indicated regents were reviewing transfers of funds appropriated by the Legislature involving OSU’s Innovation Foundation, something The Oklahoman has been unable to confirm. The Oklahoman did confirm one of the Innovation Foundation’s executives, Elizabeth Pollard, has resigned.

Another person whose resignation from OSU was confirmed was Jerome Loughridge. Loughridge, though, said in an email to The Oklahoman Thursday that contrary to earlier reports listing him as an executive with the Innovation Foundation, he left the foundation in March 2023 to serve as Shrum’s chief of staff. He said he was leaving OSU to work at a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., and that his departure from OSU had been communicated in January. Loughridge said he was working his last days in his role at OSU “per common practice” and emphasized he did not resign with Pollard.

According to its website, the Innovation Foundation’s mission “is to maximize the impact of OSU’s excellence in aerospace and advanced mobility, energy, agriculture, and One Health by translating innovative applied research into products and services, facilitating strong partnerships with aligned industry and regional partners, and investing in the development of emerging companies — all for the benefit of society.”

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Regents plan to meet Friday to discuss an interim replacement for Kayse Shrum

Minutes from the Dec. 31 meeting haven’t yet been approved by the regents, and so they were not available for public review. The regents have scheduled a special meeting for this Friday morning in Stillwater, at which they’ll hold “Discussions regarding an interim appointment to fill the position of President of Oklahoma State University and the OSU System,” according to the posted agenda.

Jeannette Mendez, OSU’s current provost and senior vice president, is serving as acting president until an interim president is named. She’s worked at OSU since 2005.

Shrum hasn’t returned messages left by The Oklahoman and other than a short statement that didn’t reveal any rationale behind what happened, the regents haven’t spoken either. Normally cooperative OSU officials also have failed to return messages in recent days.

The OSU/A&M regents board works under the umbrella of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, an executive agency that oversees all public colleges and universities in the state. Such was OSU’s wall of silence that the state’s top education official, Chancellor Sean Burrage, said he didn’t become aware of Shrum’s pending resignation until media reports emerged Tuesday night.

Similarly, the chair of the state regents’ board, Dennis Casey of Morrison, told The Oklahoman he never heard from his counterpart on the OSU board, Jimmy Harrel, who’s served on both the OSU and state regents boards on and off since the 1990s.

How Oklahoma lawmakers are reacting to Kayse Shrum’s resignation

Multiple state legislators issued statements Wednesday, all praising Shrum for her work as president. On Thursday, the OSU Faculty Council joined them, expressing its appreciation for “her leadership style that valued academic input and shared governance. During her presidency, Dr. Shrum maintained regular dialogue with the Faculty Council, demonstrating a willingness to engage with and respond to faculty concerns. Her support of faculty initiatives and her understanding of the challenges facing higher education helped strengthen the relationship between administration and faculty. Through regular meetings with the Faculty Council and various faculty committees, she fostered an environment where faculty voices were heard and respected.”

The statement was signed by the council’s officers, including its chair, Lisa Slevitch, a professor in the university’s hotel and restaurant administration program. It said the council “will closely monitor the upcoming leadership transition process” and is “committed to representing faculty interests and ensuring that academic values remain central to university decisions.”

OSU’s women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt was emotional when speaking about Shrum, who approved Hoyt’s hire.

“For Jacie Hoyt, she meant a lot. She does mean a lot,” Hoyt said. “She’s been an incredible friend to me. She’s been an incredible mentor. She’s someone that I look up to as a female leader. She’s everything that I hope I can be. She’s got wisdom. She’s got class. She’s got integrity. She’s just a leader. She’s been with me through the highest of highs in my time here and the lowest of lows. … I feel like I kind of lost a hero in that sense.”

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said Thursday he’d been on OSU’s campus as recently as a week ago Thursday and that he had no inkling of what was brewing. He said he first heard of Shrum’s resignation Tuesday morning.

“We’ll see, as things come out, what the reasoning was,” Hilbert said. “I think there’s a lot of speculation, but until more facts come to light, we’ll see. We’ll continue to have conversations with the OSU/A&M regents about everything and whatever happened.

“Clearly, something happened. That’s not a secret. … We as a Legislature, we’ll dig into it. Those were state funds that were appropriated and we don’t know.”

Hilbert was asked about what level of transparency he expected from the OSU/A&M regents. He said once the interim president is selected, he’s told the regents he wants to meet with that person “to have those conversations about, you need to come to the Legislature and talk about what did or didn’t happen, so we can be fully aware of it.”

Hilbert mentioned OSU had made multiple large financial requests of the Legislature this year and that before lawmakers considered those, they would want to know what happened with money appropriated after previous requests.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU faculty, coach join praise for Kayse Shrum after her resignation