Embattled SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras resigns
Embattled SUNY Chancellor James Malatras resigned Thursday morning amid mounting calls for his resignation for smearing one of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment accusers.
“The recent events surrounding me over the past week have become a distraction over the important work that needs to be accomplished as SUNY emerges from COVID-19,” Malatras wrote in a letter to SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Merryl Tisch and obtained by The Post.
“I believe deeply in an individual‘s ability to evolve, change, and grow, but I also believe deeply in SUNY and would never want to be an impediment to its success therefore please accept my resignation effective January 14, 2022 as SUNY’s Chancellor.”
Outrage had been growing over the past weeks for Malatras, once a top confidante to Cuomo and the former director of state operations, to be fired. On Wednesday, more than 30 Assembly members signed onto a letter calling for his resignation or firing.
Gov. Kathy Hochul made a belated call to SUNY board chairman Merryl Tisch Wednesday evening, telling her Malatras needed to go, a source familiar with the discussion told The Post.
Hochul said the situation “was untenable and not good for SUNY,” according to the source.
The Post has previously revealed that Tisch — also a mega Democratic Party donor — made last minute phone calls this week to lawmakers in hopes of saving Malatras’ job.
But the governor was behind the curve, trying to give Malatras a lifeline by refusing to call for his ouster when asked on Monday.
Sources told The Post that Malatras was in discussions with SUNY trustees throughout Wednesday night.
Around midnight, Malatras said he was thinking about resigning and made the final decision early this morning, a source close to the deliberations said.
“It was Jim’s decision, not Kathy Hochul’s,” the official said.
The SUNY insider said the intense media drumbeat and political opposition were too much for him to overcome.
“It was going to be difficult to be an effective leader,” the official said.
A higher education source also said the letter from 31 Assembly members and audio released by the Albany Times Union of Malatras berating a staffer were also a big part of what spelled the end for Malatras.
“The audio showed there was a pattern of mistreating staff,” the official said. “There will be a demand with SUNY from faculty and students for the Board of Trustees to conduct a national search to find a new chancellor, which was bypassed to appoint Malatras last year at Andrew Cuomo’s behest.”
The SUNY Board of Trustees supported Malatras to the end and didn’t want him to resign.
“We want to thank Dr. Jim Malatras for his extraordinary service to the entire SUNY system. The past two years have been among the most trying in SUNY’s history—and Jim’s leadership and collaboration with our faculty and staff have allowed our institution to continue to thrive and serve our nearly 400,000 students at 64 campuses across our state safely and in person,” the board praised him in a statement.
The board will convene in a special meeting at noon Thursday, according to SUNY.
Malatras, a key official on Cuomo’s COVID-19 task force, was handpicked by then-governor to be SUNY’s 14th chancellor.
He was unanimously approved by the board in August 2020 with a massive $450,000 annual salary after the board of the state college system scrapped the national search process and ditched standard protocol.
Malatras worked for then-Attorney General Cuomo until 2010 and then became a deputy director of public policy when Cuomo became governor. He left briefly to work as chief of staff for SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher but then returned to Cuomo in 2014 as director of state operations under Cuomo.
He then served as president of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany’s public policy think tank. Malatras became president of SUNY Empire College in 2019 and served in that role until his elevation to the SUNY chancellorship.
He also came under scrutiny for allegedly helping Cuomo on his $5.1 million COVID memoir and was questioned by investigators earlier this year, admitting he helped edit and fact-check the book.
Malatras’ texts targeting Cuomo accuser Lindsay Boylan were included in interview transcripts released as part of state Attorney General Letitia James’ sexual-harassment probe of Cuomo.
“Malatras to Boylan: Go f–k yourself,” Malatras wrote in one text.
In another, the SUNY top boss said, “Let’s release some of her cray emails!” He also bizarrely forwarded Cuomo aides a pic of a nuclear explosion with the word “kaboom” while discussing Boylan.
After the damning docs were released, Malatras issued an apology last week, saying his words were “inappropriate.”
Boylan said she was in awe of the students, faculty and administrators who had been calling for Malatras’ ouster and achieved their goal. Both the New York College Democratic and Republican clubs called for him to resign.
“Our students deserve our best,” Boylan said on Twitter. “They are showing us what the future should look like.
Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan), who drafted the letter released Wednesday calling for Malatras to step down, said his resignation meant that “the numerous voices of students, faculty, civic leaders and elected officials have been heard.
“The women of New York have been heard,” the assemblywoman said Thursday. “The SUNY Board should name an interim chancellor and launch a national search where all highly qualified candidates— including women and people of color— may apply for the permanent position. It is a new beginning for SUNY.”
In his resignation letter, Malatras, who was the first SUNY graduate to become its chancellor, said there has been “no higher honor” than serving his short stint in the role.
“It is no exaggeration to say that the SUNY system is the jewel of the Empire State,” he wrote. “It has been my privilege to serve as its leader.”
