Regents chair pursues action against UA faculty leader

Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal is pursuing “all legal remedies” following questions posed by a University of Arizona faculty leader about his involvement with a former private investment company.

UA Faculty Chair Leila Hudson publicly challenged DuVal’s involvement with Amicus Investors, a private equity company focusing on higher education, in a special faculty senate meeting on Monday. Toward the end of the meeting, Hudson questioned whether DuVal’s role as managing director of the company created a conflict of interest.

DuVal says the claim is defamatory. “Even if Amicus had pursued or landed business in Arizona – which we didn’t – it would have been impossible to have had a conflict because the two engagements never overlapped,” DuVal said Thursday. “This is obvious from a rudimentary search of corporate filings, or even my social media bio page.”

DuVal said he worked with the company from 2015 to 2017 and never completed any deals, even though the company’s website lists UA and Arizona State University as groups their team members had worked with in the past.

DuVal went on to cast doubt on the faculty chair, saying she was not engaging with shared governance in good faith — a claim Hudson has also made against the board.

“The caliber of academic research skills that were demonstrated here are concerning,” DuVal said. “I frankly now doubt the accuracy and credibility of any one of the many accusations that are being made against the university and the president.“

The UA faculty senate has provided regular input on the university’s financial stressors since UA’s multimilliondollar budget shortfall came to light last November.

Regent Lyndel Manson said the board has been concerned about the “culture” of the faculty senate for some time now. “This body is and has been overtly confrontational and anti-administrative with an eye toward the expansion of their authority well outside the intention or norms of shared governance,” Manson said.

The statement was met with boos from protesters at the back of the room, largely made up of members of the United Campus Workers Arizona calling for attention to UA’s ongoing financial stressors and pending legislation affecting higher education.

An attorney representing DuVal on Thursday issued a cease and desist letter to Hudson and three other senate leaders, saying the statements caused harm to DuVal’s reputation and demanding the immediate takedown of the meeting recording. It is no longer publicly available online.

Hudson’s attorney was not immediately available for comment.