FIU needs trustees — not a tainted ex-President Rosenberg — to control the narrative | Editorial

Florida International University’s board of trustees made the only move it could and, given the line he crossed, it was the right one:

President Mark Rosenberg had to go, board chair Dean Colson resolutely decided.

But the board bungled the announcement Friday of the news that would rock the university, and allowed Rosenberg to seize the narrative. He delivered a vague, unsatisfactory and, it turns out, woefully incomplete reason for his departure. He said on that first day, “I am stepping back so that I may give full attention to recurring personal health issues and to the deteriorating health of my wife, Rosalie.”

His effort only set off a drip, drip, drip of speculation: How, days earlier, in an interview for multi-part cover story in the Herald, Rosenberg made no mention of retiring; how FIU’s statement did not wish him well or acknowledge his accomplishments during his 12 years as president.

Then Sunday, Rosenberg, stepping into the information vacuum, gave his spin again in a cryptic, confessional and ultimately self-serving, statement, one that the Editorial Board immediately pointed out stirred up more questions than it answered.

Not the whole truth

In it, Rosenberg edged closer to the truth and acknowledged that he had “caused discomfort for a valued colleague.” And yet even that long statement continued to sanitize the reality.

We now know the gravity of the Rosenberg’s alleged transgressions. As the Herald reported, Rosenberg repeatedly told the woman that he loved her, wanted to be with her and would take care of her. She rejected his overtures, saying they made her feel uncomfortable. According to a source, Rosenberg apologized and said it would not happen again.

But it did, twice more, apparently. After the third time, the unnamed woman told a colleague.

We believe that the board should have told it like it was on Friday, taking control of a sad and unnerving turn of events. Why couldn’t they have told the community that Rosenberg was stepping down because an investigation had determined that he exhibited inappropriate and harassing behavior toward a subordinate? And, most certainly, that they, the board members, found his behavior unacceptable.

No he said/she said

After all, Rosenberg was the one who alerted Colson that he had done something wrong. Colson rightly launched an investigation, led by outside counsel. When the young woman was interviewed by investigating attorneys, her version of what happened only corroborated the incidents.

So there really was no he said/she said in this sad episode, even though an investigation continues.

It’s not too late for the board of trustees to snatch the narrative back and to keep the public informed as forthrightly as possible.

Florida International University is an asset. It’s a publicly funded university with a huge imprint on this town. The board was smart to quickly appoint Kenneth A. Jessell, a long-time administrator at the school, interim president. Monday, he released an uplifting video message acknowledging the toll the Rosenberg resignation might take on the campus and offering help, if needed.

Now it’s time for the board to exhibit, too, forthrightness in the midst of this crisis. FIU owes the community that much.

This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM.