Chancellor of Tennessee Flagship Is Suddenly Fired After Only One Year

U. of Tennessee at Knoxville

Beverly Davenport, the first female chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, was fired on Wednesday, according to a statement from Joe DiPietro, president of the University of Tennessee system. Her term will end July 1, according the statement, after just a year.

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“Dr. Davenport and I have had several conversations during her tenure as chancellor to lay out expectations, and discuss concerns,” DiPietro’s statement says. “Unfortunately, issues arose that have progressed and, while I am disappointed to have to make this change, it is necessary and in the best interests of the university.”

Davenport did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

According to a copy of DiPietro’s dismissal letter, obtained and posted by The Tennessean, the president had a laundry list of concerns about Davenport’s leadership.

“Your one-on-one, small-group, and business-transactional communication skills are very poor,” reads one segment of the letter. “I have had multiple people on multiple occasions complain that you do not listen to the person talking to you or pay attention to the details of written communications you receive. I also have received multiple complaints from multiple people about your ability to communicate orally. These complaints are consistent with my personal experience.”

Davenport is a tenured professor of communications, and will retain that post on July 1. DiPietro also cited her “lack of trust” toward the president and “the broad-based concerns and compelling lack of support from Board of Trustees members regarding your leadership.”

The chancellor has weathered controversy in her year on the job. Last year Davenport hired John Currie to be the athletics director. He was fired from the position just eight months later.

During his brief time at the university, Currie sparked controversy when he wanted to hire Greg Schiano, a defensive coordinator for Ohio State University’s football team, as the university’s head football coach. Some fans and state legislators criticized and protested the decision, citing the disputed contention that Schiano did not report Jerry Sandusky, then an assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, for sexually abusing a boy during Schiano’s time coaching there, in the 1990s.

Currie ultimately did not hire Schiano, and Davenport said in a statement following the controversy, “I deeply regret the events of yesterday for everyone involved.”

Davenport also faced criticism from state lawmakers for funding the university’s Pride Center, a campus center for LGBT students. The decision occurred after Tennessee lawmakers revoked the center’s funding and established minority engineering scholarships with the money instead.

Some students apparently gathered on the campus immediately after news of the firing broke on Wednesday to rally in support of Davenport.

Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz is breaking-news editor. Follow her on Twitter @FernandaZamudio, or email her at fzamudiosuarez@chronicle.com.