Nondisparagement agreements and an unwillingness to confront underlying problems force colleges to pull out the checkbook to smooth rough departures, experts say.
Faculty-retreat rights are a longstanding tradition, but now colleges are looking to close the loopholes that have allowed some fired administrators to stay on as faculty members.
One state senator threatened to pull funding over the selection of Rebecca Mnookin, who says she supports research on critical race theory and “lots of other ideas, too.”