Mr. D’Souza, 51, angrily denounced the article, insisting that he and his wife had been separated for two years and that he and his traveling companion had stayed in separate hotel rooms. “I had no idea that it is considered wrong in Christian circles to be engaged prior to being divorced,” he wrote on FoxNews.com. “As a result of all this, and to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” he wrote, he was suspending his engagement.

The college’s board of trustees met Wednesday, from noon until late into the night, then again on Thursday morning, according to the school’s newspaper, Empire State Tribune. At 12:30 p.m. students, gathered in a conference room at the school’s space on lower Broadway, were informed of the news: The board had accepted Mr. D’Souza’s resignation, and Andy Mills, the board chairman, would step in as interim president.

The school would not respond to requests for comment. But in a statement on its Web site, Mr. Mills said: “After careful consultation with the board and with Dinesh, we have accepted his resignation to allow him to attend to his personal and family needs. We thank him for his service and significant contribution to the college over the last two years.”

An announcement on Mr. D’Souza’s Web site read: “I am grateful for the past two years that I have spent as president of the King’s College. But now it is time to move on. My resignation will enable the King’s College to go forward without distraction. And it will also enable me to address personal matters in my life as well as to pursue new opportunities made possible by success of my recent book and film.”