Jim Donovan and Rich Sheriff are scheduled to return to work at the University of Hawaii today after a three-week external investigation cleared both of wrongdoing in the Stevie Wonder concert fiasco.
But while Sheriff is expected to return to managing the Stan Sheriff Center, Donovan will move to an as-yet-unnamed position in the Manoa chancellor’s office as part of a compromise agreement. An announcement could come as soon as today about plans to name his successor as athletic director.
Both Donovan, who has been athletic director since 2008, and Sheriff, who has run the arena bearing his father’s name since 1994, were placed on paid indefinite administrative leave July 11, the day after the planned Aug. 18 concert was canceled.
"I am very pleased that I have been cleared of any wrongdoing as I have always acted in the best interests of the university," Donovan said in a statement released by the school. Sheriff said he was told he will be reinstated pending a meeting with Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple today and declined comment until after the meeting.
Rockne Freitas, UH vice president for student affairs and university/community relations, has been serving as acting athletic director since July 11, and the position is believed to be his if he wants it. He did not return calls Sunday seeking comment about whether he would be named to the post.
Freitas was an applicant for the position twice before: in 1983, when Stan Sheriff got the job, and in 2008, when Donovan was hired. Freitas served as an assistant athletic director under Stan Sheriff. Friends of Freitas, a former All-Pro National Football League lineman with the Detroit Lions, say he is "enjoying the job" despite shuttling between the two positions.
The investigation by the Cades Schutte downtown law firm wound up last week. UH said "the final written report is still being prepared."
UH said Apple and Donovan reached an agreement Sunday on plans that call for Donovan to report to Apple today and have "significant responsibilities in designing, creating, articulating, marketing and communicating to the community, including assisting with the evolving land grant mission of the University."
UH said Donovan’s base salary will remain the same through the term of his current athletic director contract, which expires March 23. UH said "he will then be reassigned to a new position and will be recommended to receive a three-year appointment at a salary of $211,200 (temporarily reduced to $200,640) that will be subject to customary reviews and approvals in accordance with established policy."
In a statement, Apple said, "Jim is a gentlemen (sic) who has conducted himself with great honor during this difficult period. I am delighted that we have agreed to his return to full duty status and we are looking forward to a long term relationship. Jim served the university well as our athletics director, and I know that his considerable talents are an asset to the university which will benefit from his continued service."
The Donovan settlement is described as a "compromise." Donovan reportedly wanted to return as athletic director, and the UH administration, which was not willing to negotiate a multiyear contract extension, is said to have been under considerable political pressure to retain him in some capacity when he was cleared in the Wonder case.
Donovan served as the athletic department’s director of sports marketing from 1988 to 1994 under Stan Sheriff and Hugh Yoshida.
State Senate President Shan S. Tsutsui has been among Donovan and Rich Sheriff’s most public supporters among members of the Legislature. In a July 31 letter to the Maui News, Tsutsui wrote, "I am disappointed with the university’s treatment of Jim and his associate Rich Sheriff."
Moreover, Tsutsui wrote, "Given all of the positive work that Jim has done and the many things he has been able to accomplish, it is my hope that, absent a finding that he was somehow complicit in the fraudulent transaction, he will be restored to his position and we will continue to build on the good things that we have started."
Speculation is that Donovan could fill a reconfigured position left by Gregg Takayama, the Manoa director of communications and government affairs, who has been on leave to run for office. Takayama on Saturday won the Democratic primary for the state Senate seat in District 34.
Takayama’s salary is less than half of what Donovan is to receive.
