Martin wasn't forced out, Reilly says

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin was not forced out of UW, despite being embroiled in a high-profile battle for flexibility in the face of state funding cuts, according to UW System President Kevin Reilly.

Martin, who led an unsuccessful effort to split UW-Madison from the rest of the UW System, announced Tuesday she is leaving her post at UW to be the president of Amherst College.

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The union that represents UW-Madison’s teaching assistants “has had a productive relationship with Chancellor Biddy Martin during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, though we disagreed with her vision for public education and the structure of the University.”

“Chancellor Martin has shown great leadership on this campus although her proposal for public authority status would have taken UW-Madison in the wrong direction,” said Alex Hanna, co-president of the Teaching Assistants’ Association.

The union looks forward to working with a new chancellor, and wishes Martin well, added co-president Adrienne Pagac.

“We call upon the search committee to find candidates who are willing to fight on behalf of public education and to embrace institutions, like shared governance, and qualities that make UW-Madison a world-class university,” said Pagac.

Read more from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.