Dive Brief:

• Former Hocking College president Ron Erickson says he did not step down from the position voluntarily — he was forced out by the board of trustees.
• In a letter to the editor of the Athens Messenger, Erickson alleged he was pushed to step down because he fired a college official identified by the newspaper as chief financial officer Gina Fetty for creating a hostile work environment for a black employee.
• The employee, Carl Bridges, vice president of academic and student affairs and provost, resigned last week.

Dive Insight:

Erickson says that the fired administrator — he doesn’t name Fetty — attacked the performance and character of Bridges, unfairly blaming him for the college’s enrollment decline and financial stress. He said the Nelsonville, OH, college’s trustees never conducted an impartial investigation of the charges, and that they told him they would not renew his contract if he fired Fetty ​— and make sure that the new interim president would fire Bridges. The interim president, Myriah Davis, has rehired Fetty on a temporary basis. Erickson says that Bridges “was among the finest academic professionals I have ever worked with.”