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FSU president confirms he is retiring

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The Associated Press

Published: June 17, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell, who led the school's fight to keep its "Seminole" nickname and raised its academic profile, is stepping down.

The former Florida House speaker announced his decision today at the conclusion of a budget meeting with the school's board of trustees. He wants to leave as soon as possible to pursue other interests, but is willing to stay until a replacement is picked if necessary.

"If you want to do a presidential selection you do it in the spring and summer when people are looking for jobs," Wetherell said. "If you're an educator this is one of the plum jobs you can get."

Wetherell, 63, said he and his wife, Virginia, have talked about his future.

"It's a decision we've wrestled with for a year or so," he said. "We're at peace with it."

Wetherell, who became the school's president in January 2003, acknowledged in his resignation letter that a budget crisis in higher education the past two years and various health challenges took their toll.

"I want some time to relax and travel, just be a real person," said Wetherell, who added that he's in good health now after a six-year battle against prostate cancer that was diagnosed just a month after he became president.

The trustees approved a motion to put the school's general counsel, Betty Steffens, in charge of assembling a search committee.

Wetherell will be appointed as a tenured professor in the College of Education and President Emeritus when his successor takes office.

A Daytona Beach native, Wetherell came to Florida State to play football and became the first member of his family to earn a college degree.

"Some people felt like he paid too much attention to athletics, but it never bothered me to know that our boss was interested in what we were doing," Seminoles' football coach Bobby Bowden said. "Florida State would not have the status it has today without the work of T.K. both as president and in state government."

Wetherell was House speaker in 1991-92. As a lawmaker he got a bill passed to construct a building housing classrooms, offices and other facilities surrounding the football stadium. It now carries his name.

He has also been at odds with the NCAA on occasion, most notably forcing them to give up on an attempt in 2005 to force Florida State to drops its "Seminoles" nickname.

Wetherell is currently among several defendants in an open records lawsuit filed against the university and NCAA for violating Florida's Sunshine laws for not making public correspondence on the university's appeal on an athletic disciplinary issue resulting from an academic cheating scandal.

The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8 are among the organizations filing suit.

The school, however, was preparing a redacted version for public release today.

During Wetherell's tenure, Florida State produced three Rhodes Scholars and increased its freshmen retention rate to 90 percent and ranked first among the nation's top research universities in graduation rates for African-Americans.

Although he never entered the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), Wetherell has more than 38 years with the state, Department of Management Services records show, including six years as president of Tallahassee Community College.

Wetherell earned three degrees from Florida State including a doctorate in education administration. He played on the FSU football team from 1965-67.

He remains in the school's record books with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in 1965 on a lateral with Bill Moremen. The same two pulled off a similar scoring play the next year that covered 94 yards.

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