President Ramsey Leaves Board Meeting Abruptly and Did Not Return.

In what began as a routine initial Board of Trustee meeting in which Governor Bevin began in person with an expression of gratitude to the new members has progressed in a dramatic way.  In the middle of the Executive session in which personnel  matters were discussed, President Ramsey was quickly accompanied out without allowing opportunity for questions.  His spokesperson told the assembled reporters that Dr. Ramsey would not be returning to the meeting and would have no comment.

When the Executive session was over, the rest of us reentered the meeting room to a panel of very sober/glum/subdued faces. New Chairman Pro Tem Bridgeman reported that personnel and litigation had been discussed but that no decisions were made and that there was nothing to report. The meeting was concluded quickly thereafter.

Mr. Bridgeman was pressed hard after the meeting by assembled journalists but revealed little. The Board wants to have some time to orient themselves better before making important decisions.  President Ramsey’s role was obviously  discussed.  Reporters pointed out that unless the Board was considering dismissing or disciplining Dr. Ramsey, that there was no justification for discussing him privately in closed Executive session. This presented a dilemma for Mr. Bridgeman.

Mr. Bridgeman was asked if indeed Ramsey had presented his letter of resignation as promised. Mr. Bridgeman would not say that happened. He was obviously uncomfortable dodging the pointed questions and attempting to be forthright at the same time. He was unable to deny that the Board violated the Open Meeting Act.

Reading between the lines of all that happened and was said, I suspect Dr. Ramsey could not have been happy with the way things went. No matter what went on, this meeting substantially weakened President Ramsey’s ability to continue to constructively lead the University of Louisville – just as did the earlier blocked vote of no confidence.  The very fact that the issues were on the table indicates the weakness of Dr. Ramsey’s position.

A video of Chairman. Bridgeman’s post-meeting comments concerning Dr. Ramsey is available here. (8 min)

Peter Hasselbacher, MD
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, UofL

[This article was amended during the course of the afternoon.]