Two days before former University of Louisville president Kim Schatzel abruptly left her position, her employer gave her a choice: she could resign or be terminated.
In a March 24 email, U of L Board of Trustees’ then-chair Diane Medley and then-vice chair Larry Benz told Schatzel the board had “sufficient evidence for a ‘for cause’ termination of employment.”
However, they told Schatzel the board would meet two days later and vote to terminate her without cause, according to a copy of the email obtained by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.
“Should you consider resigning prior to the [March 26] meeting, we will oblige that request …If you decide not to resign and that is your prerogative, we will vote to terminate you without cause,” Benz and Medley said.
Schatzel stepped down on March 26, providing no explanation in her two-sentence resignation letter.
Questions have swirled ever since about the reason behind Schatzel’s swift and secretive exit. The Board of Trustees has given no answers. Neither has Schatzel, who signed a non-disparagement agreement as a condition of her $700,000 separation package. Her annual salary was $925,000.
The board hired Schatzel in 2022 after a national search to replace Neeli Bendapudi, who left U of L for the top job at Pennsylvania State University. Bendapudi replaced James Ramsey, who stepped down amid numerous controversies, including a U of L athletics scandal and his own lucrative relationship with the University of Louisville Foundation.
When Schatzel started in February 2023, she said she hoped to bring stability to the institution mired by leadership shakeups and turmoil for the last 10 years.
The email from Benz and Medley is the first revelation that Schatzel was forced out. In their email, Medley and Benz told Schatzel she was being placed on administrative leave for her last two days at the helm. They also warned her not to speak out about their decision.
“Please be aware that it is in the best interest of both you and the University that you keep this confidential at this point. We do not intend to make this difficult on you so we would expect the same courtesy,” Benz and Medley wrote.
Reached by phone Tuesday morning, Medley said the board obtained evidence over “a period of weeks” to terminate Schatzel for cause, but she declined to share any details because it was a personnel issue.
Despite the evidence for a for-cause termination, Medley said the board was prepared to terminate Schatzel without cause because it would be “less disruptive…to all the parties.”
Text messages obtained by KyCIR show Medley reached out to then-U of L Provost Gerry Bradley days before Schatzel’s departure, on March 21. Medley confirmed they spoke by phone about Bradley stepping into the university’s top role.
Benz was not immediately available for an interview.
He told KyCIR last week the board did not ask Schatzel to resign.
“She resigned as her prerogative…she came to the conclusion on her own and voluntarily, willingly resigned,” he said. “There wasn’t any coup.”
He declined to answer questions about why she left. Benz became chair of the Board of Trustees earlier this month.
“If you had a friend, family member or loved one that resigned and had reasons to do so and those reasons were protected, would you be happy about those being opened up to public view?” Benz told KyCIR last week.
The personnel change came amid Schatzel’s annual performance review, which Benz and Medley mentioned in their email informing the former president of her options.
In the same meeting the board received Schatzel’s resignation, the group unanimously voted to hire Bradley as the university’s new president, forgoing a national search. Bradley’s annual salary is $850,000, plus $200,000 per academic year in deferred compensation. Before Bradley accepted the presidency, he was planning to leave his role at U of L to become executive vice president of the University of Cincinnati.
Board member text messages show several board members reached out to Bradley to schedule calls and meetings on Friday, March 21. Board members Benz, Medley, Raymond Burse and Eugene Mueller each texted with Bradley.
Benz planned to take Bradley out for dinner the evening they hired him.
“Gerry! I hope it works out that Diane and I can take you and your wife out for dinner this evening. It will be a welcome relief!” Benz texted Bradley hours before Schatzel’s resignation.
“Can’t miss a free meal,” Bradley replied.
