Former University of Akron President Scott Scarborough has had a rocky tenure at the school. Here’s a look at key moments:
• May 8, 2014: The UA board of trustees hire Scarborough as the replacement for Luis Proenza. He was one of three candidates. Jim Tressel, now president of Youngstown State University, and Ronald Nykiel, an administrator at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, were the others.
• July 1, 2014: Scarborough takes over.
• Sept. 12, 2014: Enrollment falls 4.5 percent to 25,865 students — the third consecutive annual decline.
• Jan. 29, 2015: UA rolls out a new advertising campaign for the Super Bowl.
• April 15, 2015: The trustees agree to launch the pilot GenEd Core program, an initiative that offers introductory classes starting at $50 a credit hour. Scarborough proclaims that the school is offering the most affordable prices in the region. The presidents of Northeast Ohio’s four community colleges — Cuyahoga, Lakeland, Lorain County and Stark State — release a joint statement that UA’s claim is misleading because UA’s students will still have to pay fees.
• April 27, 2015: Speaking at the 22nd annual Greater Akron Speaks Out for Values breakfast, Scarborough talks about the importance of failing. “What matters most is what we learn from our failures and how those lessons make us better,” he says. “I believe moments of failure are when we are most receptive to actually hearing what God has been trying to say.”
• May 14, 2015: The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced $5 million in funding for the school and the nonprofit DANCECleveland to launch the National Center for Choreography on the Akron campus.
• May 15, 2015: After months of speculation, Scarborough announces that UA is rebranding itself as “Ohio’s polytechnic university.” The idea flops and alienates many alumni and students.
• May 20, 2015: The presidents of Cleveland State, Kent State, Northeast Ohio Medical and Youngstown State universities pen an essay in the Beacon Journal and Plain Dealer objecting to Scarborough’s rebranding speech.
• June 10, 2015: The trustees approve a $484 million budget that calls for cutbacks. The school won’t release details, though. Scarborough, who retooled the budget document, won’t say how the budget compares to the previous year. Asked directly if overall spending is increasing or decreasing, he replies: “That’s not what’s most important to us. We don’t have to write an article. We just have to run the university.”
• July 10, 2015: UA announces that it is cutting $40 million in expenses, including eliminating 215 positions and dumping the baseball program. Scarborough also says he’s launching $20 million in new initiatives.
• July 2015: UA says it will impose a new $50-per-credit-hour fee on higher-level courses, leading to a backlash from students and state lawmakers. The school has to scrap the idea.
• July 27, 2015: UA eliminates the entire staff at E.J. Thomas Hall, leading to rampant criticism and questions about the future of the entertainment venue. The school also lets go of all its UA Press staff.
• August 2015: New records released show that the school spent $950,000 on renovations and furnishings at the president’s house. A $556 olive jar becomes famous.
• August 2015: Scarborough hires TrustNavigator, a startup company with no experience, for $840,000 for a year to counsel students. The school later opts not to renew the contract.
• August 2015: UA launches the Corps of Cadets program, a new voluntary student organization that teaches leadership skills.
• Aug. 12, 2015: UA employees, students and others protest outside a trustees meeting. It’s the first of many protests on campus.
• Aug. 13, 2015: The LeBron James Family Foundation and UA announce a new partnership that will put as many as 2,300 Akron kids through college. The school pledges to raise the money for the initiative. UA agrees to rename its College of Education for James.
• Aug. 20, 2015: An anonymous group called Graduates Over Greed launches a scathing YouTube parody featuring Scarborough and others as brown paper bags with googly eyes. It’s part of a wave of criticism directed at the president — from Twitter accounts to Facebook accounts to advertisements in the Beacon Journal.
• Aug. 31, 2015: The school announces that enrollment declined 3 percent to 25,004.
• September 2015: Scarborough faces criticism after anti-gay comments that he made while in college surface. Asked directly if he has any bias against gays and lesbians, he responds, “Absolutely not.”
• Sept. 20, 2015: The Women’s Committee of the University of Akron cuts off donations after new band uniforms it helped purchase didn’t have the “Akron” name on them.
• Oct. 20, 2015: Scarborough uses his first — and only — state of the university speech to say he wants the school to evolve into a “national university with an international reach.”
• Oct. 23, 2015: Paperwork released by the school shows that donations plummeted 42 percent in July and August, right after the school announced financial cuts.
• Nov. 29, 2015: Some top business leaders in Summit County — ranging from those at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to FirstEnergy Corp. — place a full-page advertisement in the Beacon Journal urging the community to give Scarborough more time.
• Nov. 30, 2015: The school announces the formation of the University of Akron Business Executive Advisory Council to provide assistance and guidance to Scarborough and the board.
• Dec. 10, 2015: A group calling itself Advocates for the University of Akron launches an advertising campaign in the Beacon Journal urging Scarborough and the board to stop making “dubious decisions.” The three ads feature the words “STOP,” “HELP” and “PLEASE.”
• Feb. 4, 2016: The University of Akron Faculty Senate approves a “no confidence” vote in the ability of Scarborough to lead the school.
• April 28, 2016: UA announces that it has ended talks with ITT Education Services Inc., one of the nation’s largest operators of for-profit technical schools. UA had been talking about partnering with the company.
• March 2, 2016: The school announces the new EXL (Experiential Learning) Center to help students with hands-on experience in their professions.
• May 2016: Two national bond rating agencies downgrade UA’s financial outlook to negative.
• May 25, 2016: UA announces that it won’t renew its contract with TrustNavigator, saying the effort failed to retain enough students.
Compiled by Beacon Journal staff writer Rick Armon