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The fallout from an athletics scandal that has roiled the University of Maryland at College Park campus continues.
The head of the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents, James T. Brady, intends to resign. The regents had been sharply criticized for urging College Park president Wallace D. Loh to keep head football coach DJ Durkin despite that a pair of investigations revealed that athletics staffers were responsible for a player’s death in June and showed an abusive culture among the coaching staff. In a statement, Brady said, "In recent days, I have become the public face of both the board and its decisions related to these matters. In my estimation, my continued presence on the board will inhibit its ability to move Maryland’s higher education agenda forward. And I have no interest in serving as a distraction from that important work."
Loh announced his retirement in June 2019, and while initially Durkin was to remain in his position, he was fired on Wednesday after Loh met with students, professors and administrators.
Meanwhile, the university’s major fund-raising arm, the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees, wrote to Brady and the regents informing them that they had dealt a “fatal blow” to the group’s $1.5 billion campaign, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Academic leaders on the campus have also urged Loh to reverse his decision to retire.
Further, the Sun reported that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education is discussing the status of Maryland's accreditation in light of the current situation.
