Beverly Davenport will soon vacate the eighth-floor office suite she's held since becoming chancellor of the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus fifteen months ago. Today, the university announced Davenport's removal, effective July 1.
A letter from UT System President Joe DiPietro read, in part, "I have decided it is in the best interest of the University of Tennessee to change the leadership of our flagship campus and terminate your appointment as chancellor..."
The letter goes on to spell out DiPietro's reasoning, listing seven factors that mainly revolve around Davenport's professional relationships in the UT system. Davenport didn't work well with DiPietro's staff or other university leaders, the letter states, and Davenport has been "unwilling or unable to improve."
DiPietro also said Davenport had a lack of support from UT's Board of Trustees, and that improved standing was unlikely to come from a newly-reconstituted board set to take office in July.
Shortly after rumors began to circulate on social media Wednesday afternoon, roughly three dozen students gathered on a breezeway near the chancellor's office in what organizer Turner Matthews called a "show of support" for Davenport. Some who spoke felt Davenport was an antidote to legislative and gubernatorial intervention in university business, such as the decision to defund the university's Pride Center in 2016.
Others had different concerns. UT student Jake Tidwell stood atop a picnic table and said, "When was the last time we had administrative stability?"
Tidwell, a Knoxville native, said it was disappointing to see yet another leadership change at the school. He appreciated Davenport's work.
"[She] stands for students, and with students," he said. "I grew up ten minutes from here, and to see this, is just disappointing."
Davenport's brief tenure was rough, marked by a botched search for a head football coach, the dismissal of university athletic director John Currie, and developing strategies for the university's future. She also decided to opt out of a workforce privatization plan backed by Gov. Bill Haslam. Davenport is now on administrative leave with pay through June 30. After that, she will be allowed to move into a tenured faculty position in UT's School of Communication Studies.
An interim chancellor is expected to be named soon. It will be the university's third in two years.