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Embattled trustee Barry Fenchak has been removed from the Pennsylvania State University board, The Centre Daily Times reported.
During a special meeting Monday, the Penn State board voted 30 to 4 to oust Fenchak, who was one of nine trustees elected by alumni. He was just two weeks of shy of the end of his term on June 30, and according to trustee bylaws, his removal makes him ineligible to ever hold a board seat again.
Fenchak, an investment adviser, has been a source of tension on the board since he sued his fellow trustees last July for allegedly withholding financial information from him. Board members have sought his removal ever since, zeroing in on a crude joke he made to a female staff member. After receiving a baseball cap as a gift at a university event, Fenchak—who is bald—joked that the hat made him look like “a penis with a hat on,” according to court records.
After a judge intervened last fall to prevent the board from removing Fenchak, Penn State tried a new tactic: barring him from running for re-election. Fenchak tried unsuccessfully to organize a write-in campaign. And when the judge lifted his injunction against the board's removal of him, it paved the way for Monday’s vote.
Trustee Jay Paterno, who voted against the move, said it sends a “chilling message to future boards.”
Trustee Kelley Lynch said she voted for Fenchak’s ouster because of “his lack of genuine remorse and unwillingness to take responsibility” for the crude joke he made, “along with his complete failure to recognize the power dynamic at play.”
“My issue is how he responded when confronted with the harm he caused,” she said. “How can we trust that this won’t happen again?”
