Commonwealth University president steps down, two months after faculty and coaches voted no confidence

The president of Commonwealth University, who drew a vote of no confidence earlier this year by faculty and coaches, will step down in July, the college announced Tuesday.

Bashar Hanna will move into the position of vice chancellor for strategic initiatives for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees the 10 state universities, including Commonwealth.

The decision also comes amid a comprehensive review of Hanna commissioned by the system in March. A system spokesperson said Tuesday that the review had not been completed.

“We believe that the president needed to step aside and now we’re looking toward the future and doing what’s in the best interest of students, faculty, coaches and the staff at the university,” said Kenneth M. Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the faculty union.

» READ MORE: Pennsylvania system will conduct review of Commonwealth University president who drew no-confidence vote by faculty

PASSHE Chancellor Christopher Fiorentino said Hanna will be “a great addition to the team.

“We are fortunate to bring into the system office someone with decades of experience at the university level as we work to open new doors of opportunity for students across Pennsylvania,” he said.

Commonwealth faculty and coaches voted overwhelmingly earlier this year to approve a no-confidence measure against Hanna, citing concerns about his leadership, declining enrollment, budget woes, and a lawsuit verdict. The vote was open to about 700 faculty and coaches, with 406 approving the measure and 52 opposing it.

It follows a jury verdict last year that found a dean who helped an employee file a sexual harassment complaint against Hanna had been wrongfully terminated. A federal court jury in August awarded $4 million to Jeffrey Krug, former business school dean at Bloomsburg University, who said in a 2018 whistleblower lawsuit he was mistreated and ultimately fired that year for helping Hanna’s executive assistant in filing the complaint.

Bloomsburg is now part of Commonwealth, which was formed when Bloomsburg, Mansfield, and Lock Haven Universities were merged in 2022. Hanna led Bloomsburg for five years before taking the helm at Commonwealth, where he has been president for nearly three years.

» READ MORE: Faculty and coaches vote no confidence in Commonwealth University president

“This new opportunity is both humbling and exciting — a chance to bring the lessons we’ve learned together at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield to a broader stage,” Hanna said. “It’s an opportunity to help shape the future of higher education across the Commonwealth, advancing innovation, sustainability, and above all, student success.”

Hanna, who is paid $425,080 annually, said after the faculty vote that he had no intention of stepping away. He cited an increase in first-time, full-time enrollment and graduate enrollment since integration and “record-breaking fundraising,” state debt relief of $38 million for the Mansfield campus, and new shared governance and financial aid models achieved during his tenure. Commonwealth’s Council of Trustees also “overwhelmingly remains in support” of Hanna, its chair, John Wetzel, said at the time.

Mash, the faculty union head, last year called for Hanna to resign or be fired, given the jury verdict.

“I cannot find anyone who can explain to me how it makes sense that someone who has been liable for wrongful termination of a mandated reporter could remain the university’s final arbiter in sexual —harassment cases and other disciplinary cases,” Mash said in November. “How does anyone expect students, faculty, and staff to feel comfortable at that university? It is farcical.”

A 2019 Inquirer investigation found that Hanna also had been quietly pushed out of two other jobs after being accused of mistreating employees, women in particular. The state system has continued to defend Hanna, who asserted at the time that he left Kutztown University — another school in the state system — and Delaware Valley University because of disputes over leadership style, not misconduct.

At Bloomsburg, his executive assistant alleged that Hanna engaged in inappropriate and unwanted behavior — calling her “dear,” rubbing her shoulder, and kissing her on the forehead behind his closed office door. Hanna also was accused of sliding the tip of his toe against her shin.

PASSHE, after investigating the woman’s claims, found that Hanna’s behavior was “clearly inappropriate” but not “sexual in nature.” In a settlement with the woman, the school and PASSHE agreed to pay $40,000 for her attorney’s fees and to cover her tuition if she left the university before finishing her degree.

Hanna, in a 2019 Inquirer interview, responded to the allegations at the three universities: “Every one of us has detractors. Every one of us has critics. When you are engaged in being a transformational change agent, some people who have done some things the way they have done them for 50 years might not like the direction we’re going.”

The system typically conducts comprehensive reviews of its presidents, but usually only a year or two before their contracts come up for renewal. In this case, the review of Hanna was commissioned earlier ― Hanna’s contract expires in June 2028 — and at Hanna’s request and that of Commonwealth’s trustee council, the system said.