University of Louisville president Kim Schatzel resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday. Her successor, Louisville provost Gerry Bradley, was tapped the same night in a move that sidestepped a formal search.

Louisville officials have not specifically said why Schatzel stepped down. But she appeared to do so under pressure, telling a local media outlet on Tuesday that she couldn’t comment on whether she still held the presidency. Some 24 hours later, Schatzel was out of the job.

University of Louisville

Bradley joined the public research university as dean of the School of Dentistry in 2016 and became provost in 2022. Less than two weeks ago, the University of Cincinnati announced it had hired him for the same job, but on Tuesday UC officials wrote that he had backed out and was “pursuing other opportunities.”

On Wednesday, it became clear why he shifted gears so abruptly.

Counting interim presidents, Bradley is Louisville’s sixth leader since 2016.

After Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, where the leadership change was announced, trustees and the new president spoke to local media in attendance but offered few insights for the transition.

“As with any position, times change, the goals of Dr. Schatzel changed, our goals changed,” board chair Diane Medley said, according to Louisville Public Media.

But it remains unclear exactly what goals changed. Schatzel, a former president of Towson University, started the Louisville job in February 2023 and welcomed back-to-back record-breaking classes. Last fall, Louisville enrolled 3,125 incoming students, the university noted at the time.

In a news release about Schatzel’s resignation, Louisville credited Bradley for that success.

“Under Bradley’s leadership, UofL has made a strong commitment to enrollment growth, student success and academic excellence. Last fall, UofL experienced record first-year enrollment, record first-year fall-to-fall retention and a record overall enrollment of 24,123 students,” Louisville officials wrote.

On Thursday, a university spokesperson had few details to share.

“As the chair said last night, Dr. Bradley was viewed by the board as the most qualified person to take over and maintain the university’s significant momentum. They wanted to move quickly,” Louisville spokesperson John Karman told Inside Higher Ed by email.

He added that Schatzel is no longer an employee and the board was not “revisiting” the matter, as there were “immediate issues with the transition that have to be addressed.”

Schatzel did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed sent via LinkedIn.

Terms of the exit agreement shared by the university show that Schatzel will earn at least $700,000 on the way out, with $400,000 to be paid within 30 days of her resignation and the remainder paid in installments. The agreement included a mutual nondisparagement clause. The university did not provide a copy of Bradley’s contract.

The lack of a formal presidential search left faculty in the dark.

Eugene Mueller, chair of the Louisville Faculty Senate and a voting member on the Board of Trustees, said his colleagues were “dismayed” by the lack of faculty involvement in the process. Mueller said he was limited in what he could say about Schatzel’s exit because it was a confidential personnel matter, but he argued that “there just wasn’t time” for a more inclusive process.

“We were faced with the situation where we could have the president and the provost positions both filled by interim appointments when higher ed is facing incredible headwinds,” Mueller said.

Kentucky’s top official also commented on Schatzel’s abrupt resignation.

Democratic governor Andy Beshear, who appoints Louisville board members, said in a press conference Thursday that he learned about Schatzel’s exit “about 24 hours” ahead of time but was given few details. Asked if there should have been a national search for her successor, Beshear said yes, but also lauded Bradley as a good hire.

“I always believe that you should do a search. You may think you have the very best person, but you need to compare them to options,” he said. “I think the board would tell you they were worried about stability and I’m not suggesting that’s not a worry, but I always favor doing a search.”

Louisville’s abrupt change in some ways resembles what happened at Purdue University in June 2022, when then-president Mitch Daniels announced plans to retire on the same day the board unveiled that it had hired engineering dean Mung Chiang to succeed him without a formal search. But, unlike Louisville, the change at Purdue included a six-month transition period.

Faculty at the time expressed objections about the secretive process, though not the hire.