Less than two years after taking office, seven months after trustees expressed dissatisfaction with his job performance and three months after a deleted-emails scandal, Dr. Rahmat Shoureshi is out as president of Portland State University.
The university announced his resignation Friday, following private personnel meetings conducted by trustees stemming from a report submitted two weeks ago by an auditor and a workplace attorney retained by trustees to investigate allegations that Shoureshi mistreated staff, deceived trustees and put his personal interests above the school’s with extravagant spending and financial demands.
Although Shoureshi’s resignation is not effective until Dec. 14, he no longer is on the campus or doing work for PSU. He is on paid administrative leave and, according to the Portland Mercury, will receive around $800,000 over 15 months.
Shoureshi signed the settlement agreement Friday after negotiations with the board last week, Chris Broderick, PSU’s associate vice president for communications, told Diverse.
PSU shared the resignation news Friday evening on social media, eliciting scathing criticism of Shoureshi on Facebook in particular. Also Friday, the board of trustees issued a lengthier formal statement indicating that Dr. Stephen Percy, dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs, would step in as acting president until the appointment of an interim president.
Trustees were to vote Monday night on Percy’s acting-president status during a public meeting, said Broderick.
“We are grateful for Dr. Shoureshi’s service to PSU these past 21 months,” board of trustees chair Gale Castillo said in the university’s statement. “We wish him the best and look forward to continuing the work that he started.”
