WSU provost meeting: Yelling, swearing come out in report

After refusing for three weeks to discuss a growing tempest surrounding former Provost Steven Hoch, Washington State University on Thursday released an expletive-laden report, which gives a blow-by-blow account.

It begins with Hoch chairing a Sept. 10 meeting attended by 10 other senior staff, with three more watching in on video conference. Hoch, the report says, was "disrespectful, rude, condescending and arrogant," according to a majority of witnesses. The meeting was described as tense, even hostile.

"You're a piece of work," a shaking Greg Royer, the university's vice president for business and finance, told Hoch as Royer got up from the meeting to leave.

Hoch jumped out of his seat and chased Royer out of the room, some witnesses said. "Don't you EVER talk to me that way again!" the witnesses heard Hoch yell in the hallway outside.

Hoch says this is what happened next, according to the report: Royer called him an "arrogant [expletive]" and then raised his arm and elbow to the provost's chin and kept it there for a while, before shoving him.

But Royer remembers it differently. He was chased out the door, he says in the report, and then Hoch got in his face and yelled. He put his arm up defensively, trying to get more space, and then pushed Hoch as the provost got even closer. Royer then told Hoch to "[expletive] off." The provost, Royer claims, was behaving "viciously and irrationally."

While all the people attending the meeting say Hoch was primarily to blame, two of those watching in on the video conference, plus Hoch, say Royer was the one who was out of line.

Thursday's release of the previously confidential report marks another step in a story that university officials seem to be finding increasingly difficult to contain.

The Seattle Times submitted a public-records request for the report last week, after learning that some WSU officials were asked to read it and then destroy their copies. The report was prepared by Antoinette Ursich, WSU's senior assistant attorney general, at the request of President Elson Floyd.

WSU says it plans to release more records in the coming weeks.

In the hours after the meeting, Hoch sent Floyd an e-mail, with the subject line "Not a good day," according to the report. Hoch tells Floyd he was "physically abused" by Royer. "We clearly have a major problem," Hoch writes, adding that he's made preliminary inquiries about returning to his former position — the dean of arts and sciences at the University of Kentucky.

"... The situation in which I find myself is both intolerable and untenable. I have been disappointed since your memo to me back in mid-June," Hoch writes. "Nevertheless, I still decided to come believing that you really did want me to be in the position of a Chief Operating Officer after a year ... "

Two days later, Royer wrote an e-mail to Floyd, according to the report.

"In my nearly 40 years as an employee at WSU I have never been insulted and then threatened by one of my peers," Royer says. "This episode has been very upsetting to me. ... There is much more that I could share with you about Steve's arrogance and his rude, demeaning and threatening behavior."

On Sept. 13, Floyd placed Royer on administrative leave for a week while he completed the investigation. On Sept. 23, Hoch sent a 3 a.m. e-mail to staff telling them he was taking an open-ended leave, and returned to Lexington, Ky.

On Oct. 10, Floyd put out a news release saying that after discussions with deans, members of the senior faculty, vice presidents and others, he had determined that it wasn't in the best interests of WSU for Hoch to return as provost. But Hoch, who became a tenured faculty member when he took the WSU job Aug. 1, has said he intends to return as a history professor.

He will be paid $245,000 annually, thanks to a faculty formula that awards administrators 9/11ths of their pay when they return to the classroom.

This week, Floyd sent out a statement addressed to the "WSU Community" in which he says it was never envisioned that Hoch would serve as a faculty member.

"In fact, Dr. Hoch was initially informed in writing that his salary as a faculty member would be $78,563," Floyd says, before officials realized they were legally obliged to pay much more. Floyd goes on to say the 9/11ths provision won't be used in future contracts, and will be replaced with new language that compensates faculty at the market rate.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com