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March 23 (UPI) -- Oregon State University President F. King Alexander has resigned amid backlash related to his role in Louisiana State University's sexual misconduct scandal. The OSU board of trustees accepted Alexander's resignation Tuesday. The move is effective April 1, but he will be on administrative leave until then. The board voted to place Alexander on probation last week.
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His resignation comes with a settlement agreement that will pay him an additional year's salary, which totals about $600,000.
Alexander was president at LSU from 2013-19. He left the school at the end of 2019 and began his role at Oregon State in July 2020.
"When the Board of Trustees adjourned last week, we believed it was possible for President Alexander to repair the broken confidence and trust in his ability to lead OSU," board chair Rani Borkar said in a statement Tuesday.
"After listening to and hearing important input from diverse members of our community and reflecting on our own values and experiences, we now know that rebuilding trust is no longer possible."
Earlier this month, two law firms released reports on behalf of LSU, which showed that a 2013 internal investigation accused former LSU head football coach Les Miles of inappropriate behavior. Miles was accused of contacting female students through social media and text message, meeting them off-campus and kissing at least one of them.
The reports also described failures by LSU to adequately report the alleged incidents. In 2013, former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva sent an email to LSU's legal counsel and Alexander and recommended that Miles be fired due to the accusations.
According to the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Alexander said he was advised by attorneys to keep Miles and that he was unable to fire him because the LSU governing board made the decision to retain Miles before Alexander became president.
Miles has denied kissing the student and any further wrongdoing. LSU fired him in 2016 when the Tigers began the season at 2-2.
