Loh’s decision to part ways with football coach DJ Durkin directly defies the recommendation made by the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents on Tuesday afternoon. The board’s chairman had announced that after a commission investigated a player’s death, the culture of the football program and the athletic department, the football coach would return to the sideline.

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Loh said at the news conference that he would retire at the end of the academic year.

The news came months after the death of Jordan McNair, 19, who suffered exertional heatstroke at a team workout in late May and died several days later.

The announcement stunned the College Park campus.

Student leaders planned emergency votes and a rally, faculty leaders mobilized to send a strong message of outrage, and influential lawmakers spoke out against Maryland state university officials’ actions that many viewed as protecting an embattled football coach after a player’s death, prioritizing sports over academics, and micromanaging personnel decisions at the state’s flagship campus.

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“The faculty I’ve talked to are all just astonished — they’re unhappy, they’re astonished,” said Jordan Goodman, a professor in the Physics Department and a graduate who said his immediate family holds nine U-Md. degrees. “It’s not a day that you’re proud to be a Terp.”

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The University Senate released a statement Wednesday calling the board’s actions a “direct attack on academic freedom and shared governance.” Leadership of the body — made up of faculty, staff, students and administrators at the institution — called for an emergency meeting Friday.

“It is the view of the University Senate leadership that the Board of Regents has stepped into making personnel decisions based on suspect motivations,” the statement said. “If they can take such action regarding a coach, they can certainly do the same with a faculty member, a staff member, a department or program, or an administrator.”

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Martha Nell Smith, an English professor and a past chairman of the University Senate, said Wednesday morning that regents had acted against U-Md.'s interests. “I am shocked and upset that the football coach is still there,” she said. “I really feel for these players, and I’m furious. I think we can make our voices heard, and we can be very loud.”

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Political leaders responded forcefully as well, with state lawmakers calling for a hearing, many members of the state’s congressional delegation expressing concern about the regents' decision and Gov. Larry Hogan (R) calling on the regents Wednesday evening to reconsider their recommendations. “I am deeply troubled by the lack of transparency from the Board of Regents, and deeply concerned about how they could have possibly arrived at the decisions announced” Tuesday, Hogan said.

On Wednesday evening, Loh sent a letter to campus, saying that he had met with student and faculty leaders, deans and others after the news conference, and that the overwhelming majority expressed serious concerns about Durkin returning to the campus. On Wednesday afternoon, Loh wrote, “Coach Durkin was informed that the University will part ways.”

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He wrote that he would devote the remaining months of his presidency to needed changes in the athletic department that would prioritize the safety of student athletes.

Former University of Maryland System chancellor William B. “Brit” Kirwan and former Board of Regents chairman James L. Shea, who had expressed concern about the board’s actions, applauded Loh’s announcement Wednesday evening and called on him to remain at the helm.

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“Dr. Loh’s leadership is critical for the university at this challenging time,” they wrote, “and we call upon the Board of Regents to publicly affirm its support for Dr. Loh continuing leadership of the state’s flagship university.”

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The board, they said, “was taking the unprecedented action of determining who would be the university’s football coach. To the best of our knowledge, in the 30 year history of the University System, no board of regents has ever made decisions about campus personnel, except those involving the president.

“The Board of Regents should not be in the business of hiring or firing a football coach, or any faculty or staff. This would set an untenable precedent for the university system and would seriously harm Maryland’s reputation in the national higher education community. No respected higher education system would permit it.”

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Jeffrey Herf, a history professor, said Wednesday night that he had witnessed a student and faculty “revolt against the injustice and disgrace of the Board of Regents and against the atrocious idea that athletics is more important than teaching and learning, research and scholarship.”

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Jonathan Allen, Maryland’s student body president, praised Loh’s action on Durkin, calling it the “morally correct” decision. But he said he and some students think Loh should stand by his decision to retire. “Ultimately, there’s been a lot of chaos over the last few months, and years,” he said.

Rylan Flint, a 19-year-old sophomore at Maryland, said, “The whole thing with President Loh resigning is kind of upsetting. Because I like President Loh,” he said. “I think the way the Board of Regents handled it wasn’t the best way. . . . I think they could have handled it a lot better.”

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Hoyer praised Loh for holding Durkin accountable, for taking responsibility for the tragedy, and for initiating the investigation into what happened.

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Smith said Wednesday night: “I deeply admire what Loh did today. That took courage, commitment to integrity.

“... I think that he should stay at Maryland as long as he wants to, and retire when he chooses. ... His wisdom in this action suggests that Loh staying through a search for his replacement would be a very good thing indeed.”

Here is Kirwan and Shea’s statement in full:

We strongly support the decision of Dr. Wallace Loh to terminate the employment of football Coach D.J. Durkin.

Dr. Loh’s action today will be remembered as a courageous and important decision in Maryland higher education.

We respect Dr. Loh’s judgement that the termination Coach Durkin’s contract is in the best interests of the university. But history will judge Dr. Loh’s decision to be important for more fundamental reasons.

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Dr. Loh has taken this action despite an apparent ultimatum from the Board of Regents that he must retain Coach Durkin or else be terminated as president immediately.

In effect, the Board of Regents was taking the unprecedented action of determining who would be the university’s football coach.

To the best of our knowledge, in the 30 year history of the University System, no board of regents has ever made decisions about campus personnel, except those involving the president.

The Board of Regents should not be in the business of hiring or firing a football coach, or any faculty or staff. This would set an untenable precedent for the university system and would seriously harm Maryland’s reputation in the national higher education community.

No respected higher education system would permit it.

Maryland’s national reputation for strong higher education governance is at stake. We applaud Dr. Loh for his courageous assertion of these principles and his protection of the independence of the campus.

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We call upon Chairman [James T.] Brady and the Board of Regents to publicly affirm their support for the principle, followed by all major academic institutions, that the governing board is a policy setting body that appoints presidents, holds them accountable for their performance and grants them the authority to manage the institution, including all personnel decisions.

We also join the many calls for Dr. Loh to reconsider his decision to retire this June.

We believe Dr. Loh’s leadership is critical for the university at this challenging time and we call upon the Board of Regents to publicly affirm its support for Dr. Loh continuing leadership of the state’s flagship university.