From the NYT version of the story: University President Resigns at Colorado Amid Turmoil

She said in a telephone interview that the Churchill case was not the impetus for her resignation, but that it had become a distraction that was hindering her ability to address what she called a more serious problem, a budget crisis at the university over a shortage of state financing.

“It was becoming increasingly difficult to be strong on the issues that were important in the long run because it kept coming back to questions about me,” Dr. Hoffman said, “so I decided I had to take my future, my job, off the table.” Dr. Hoffman, 58, was named the university’s president on Sept. 1, 2024, after serving as provost at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The irony is that the Churchill thing is overshadowing some very serious problems (I’m sorry as vile as Churchill’s ideas are, the situations in the football program are, if anywhere near true, literally criminial).

Indeed, the truly amazing thing is that it may allow the university to escape scrutiny on these issues, as some will argue that all the ciriticisms are anout Churchill, especially when you get professors saying things like:

Margaret LeCompte, a professor in the school of education who has spoken in support of Professor Churchill, said she believed that a “concerted attack on the university by the right wing” was a factor in Dr. Hoffman’s resignation.

I think Hoffman could have easily weathered the Churchill storm, since she played no role in his hire or his promotion. However, as I noted below, her direct oversight of the football program was something that was going to catch up with her sooner or later.

Indeed, were it not for the Churchill situation, one guesses that the more left-leaning faculty who may now feel the need to protect Hoffman to some degree, would instead be calling for her head about now:

Some faculty members said Dr. Hoffman probably also lost support on campus over her handling of accusations last year that the university’s football program had used sex and alcohol to lure top high-school players.

Many critics, on campus and off, said the investigations into the scandal failed to root out the problems of big-money college sports and national competition for players that they said created an environment ripe for recruiting abuses.

Reports of wild weekends, proffered sex for football recruits and sexual assault of women also fed the university’s reputation as a party school where alcohol abuse is tolerated as a part of the undergraduate culture.

Last fall, a freshman died of alcohol poisoning after chugging whiskey and wine as part of an initiation ceremony with fraternity brothers, raising concern among administrators that parents might start to steer their children elsewhere because of worries about safety.