Boze ‘defaced’ Stark State sign, incident report says

Boze

Credit: DKS Editors

The former dean of the Kent State Stark Campus was named in a vandalism incident reported at Stark State College.

On Feb. 15, Betsy Boze, then dean of Kent State Stark, allegedly used a can of spray paint to deface or alter the appearance of a Stark State parking sign, according to a police report filed Feb. 17 with the Jackson Township Police Department.

“It was not defacing,” Boze said. “It was correcting an arrow.”

Boze explained an arrow on the sign was directing Stark State students into a Kent State parking lot. She removed the arrow.

“It was not graffiti or anything like that,” she said. “It was changing the arrow to make it correct.”

She gave no comment as to whether the incident had anything to do with her resignation.

“The time was right for me to resign,” she said.

Irene Lewis Motts, director of marketing and communications at Stark State, acknowledged an incident did happen and said Stark State has worked with Kent State. She added the two institutions have resolved the situation.

“We have investigated the situation, and she is no longer with the university,” said Tom Neumann, spokesman for Kent State.

Kent State Provost Robert Frank declined to comment on the police report but said by the end of the fiscal year, Boze no longer will be employed by Kent State.

Jackson Township police were not available for comment.

Boze resigned Friday from her position as dean. A Stark campus press release said her departure from the university was for personal reasons and stated that her resignation was effective immediately.

In September, Boze received a 3-percent merit increase, bringing her annual salary to $141,365.

She had served as dean since July 2005. Before that, she served as dean of the School of Business at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

Ruth Capasso, associate dean for academic affairs at Kent State, is serving as interim dean until a search committee can find someone to permanently fill the position.

Contact investigative reporter Maria Nann at [email protected].