St. Bonaventure U. President Resigns as Tumult Over Basketball Program Continues

By LAWRENCE BIEMILLER

The president of St. Bonaventure University, Robert J. Wickenheiser, resigned Sunday afternoon at the request of the university's trustees, who met to discuss a burgeoning basketball scandal that had the president at its center.

Mr. Wickenheiser's resignation capped a tumultuous week in which he had acknowledged taking part in a decision to admit a player who did not meet the National College Athletic Association's eligibility requirements (The Chronicle, March 5).

The board also put the university's athletics director, the head basketball coach, and an assistant coach -- Mr. Wickenheiser's son -- on administrative leave while a new committee investigates the basketball program. It named an interim president, Brother Dominic Monti, as well as an interim senior vice president, Sister Margaret Carney, whose task will be to remind members of the university community of its religious roots. St. Bonaventure, located in western New York, is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Order of St. Francis.

Last week, Mr. Wickenheiser said he took responsibility for St. Bonaventure's decision to admit the player, Jamil Terrell, a 6-foot-8-inch junior who transferred to St. Bonaventure last year from Coastal Georgia Community College. The Buffalo News reported on Sunday that Mr. Terrell had earned a certificate in welding at the community college, rather than an associate degree, as NCAA rules on the eligibility of junior-college transfer students require.

The News article also said that St. Bonaventure officials had asked the community college's registrar to overstate Mr. Terrell's academic credentials -- which the registrar declined to do -- and that in deciding whether to admit Mr. Terrell and allow him to play on the team, Mr. Wickenheiser "overrode the recommendations" of university officials charged with monitoring compliance with NCAA regulations.

At their emergency meeting on Sunday, the trustees named a special committee to review the men's basketball program, and said in a statement that "there may have been an irregularity involving the grade record of an athlete, and a change in that record." The board said it would forward information about the possible irregularity to the new committee, which is to submit a report to the board by April 15.

The board also hired a former director of enforcement for the NCAA, Richard Hilliard, as an independent counsel "charged with early fact-finding." Mr. Hilliard is a partner in Ice Miller, an Indianapolis law firm.

Those placed on administrative leave were Gothard Lane, the vice president for athletics and athletics director; Jan van Breda Kolff, the head basketball coach; and Kort Wickenheiser, one of two assistant basketball coaches. The other assistant coach, Billy McCaffrey, was named interim coach.

Following their meeting, the trustees released a statement thanking Robert Wickenheiser for "taking responsibility for some decisions that have brought us to where we are today." The trustees also praised his "many contributions and important successes" during his nine years as president.

In a statement issued by the university last Monday, after the revelations about Mr. Terrell's apparent eligibility surfaced, Mr. Wickenheiser said: "My own involvement in the original decision to accept Jamil was founded on my desire to help him. I made this decision and I accept full responsibility for this turn of events."

"Throughout this process, I made a series of well-intentioned decisions based on a series of assumptions and interpretations," he said in the statement. "The NCAA has come to a conclusion different from the one I reached."

Mr. Wickenheiser's interest in the university's high-profile basketball program has proven controversial before. In December 2000, he attempted to fire a sociology professor, Joseph F. Greer, with whom some basketball players had clashed (The Chronicle, April 20, 2001).

After the university said it was punishing itself by forfeiting six games it had won, giving the team a 1-and-13 won-loss record, the Atlantic 10 Conference voted to exclude St. Bonaventure from postseason play. The team's players then decided not to play their final two regular-season games, which were to have taken place last week. The players' decision, and the fact that St. Bonaventure officials seemed to endorse that decision, brought a barrage of national criticism on the university this week.

_________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2003 by The Chronicle of Higher Education