YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The recent hiring of U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson as Youngstown State University president may be leading to a financial fallout as university donors and supporters consider pulling the plug on their giving going forward.

The Youngstown State University Foundation said they have been contacted in recent days by supporters who now are expressing concern and reluctance to provide ongoing support in the future.

The pushback from supporters has come in direct correlation to the university board of trustees’ controversial decision last week to hire Johnson as new university president. The move has been criticized because of the lack of transparency in the process and because of Johnson’s far-right stance on various issues.

The Republican Johnson resides in Marietta and represents the 6th Congressional District, which encompasses all or part of 11 Eastern Ohio counties including Belmont, Harrison, Monroe and Jefferson.

The foundation released a public statement on the matter this week, raising concern over the presidential search process and the effect it could have on the YSU Foundation’s mission.

“Because of the unique relationship of the University and the YSU Foundation, the YSU Foundation finds it necessary to express our concerns regarding recent developments surrounding the YSU Presidential Search with our donors, friends, the YSU Board of Trustees, and the YSU community at large. We would have preferred a more inclusive process that represented the University’s students, faculty and staff, along with its donor base, supporters, and alumni,” the organization said in its release. “During the past few days many of these individuals have reached out to the YSU Foundation trustees to express their concerns and their reluctance to provide on-going support moving forward.”

Until now, the foundation has remained silent on Johnson’s appointment. YSU Foundation is a fundraising and philanthropic organization independent of YSU.

Later in the day Tuesday, the university issued a letter to the community offering an explanation on how the presidential search was carried out. However, the university continues to withhold copies of the resumes or names of the other candidates who were considered for the post.

“We want to address the concerns regarding transparency and inclusivity with the presidential search and to clarify the approach we undertook. The first thing to note is that we started this process knowing that we had big shoes to fill with Jim Tressel stepping down. Our number one priority was to ensure that we find a strong leader to continue to build upon the successes of President Tressel. Specifically, leadership; fundraising; expanding regional recognition; and building relationships with students, the community, and government relations. With that in mind, we needed to conduct a search that would bring us the strongest candidates possible.”

Regarding the search process, the letter states the university “sought input from the entire YSU community with over 600 stakeholders responding.” The university also enlisted national search firm WittKiefer, which reportedly advised the university to conduct “a confidential search in order to attract the most qualified candidates.” In August, it launched a search website and sent an email to the campus community outlining the process and next steps.

The hiring process began when WittKiefer presented a slate of potential candidates to the Presidential Search Guidance committee, which discussed, reviewed and narrowed the pool of candidates before a first round of candidate interviews took place. After the pool was narrowed again and finalists identified, finalists toured campus and the president’s residence, the letter states.

“The finalists were interviewed by the full board of trustees (including student and global),” the letter continues. “Finalists were also interviewed by the constituency group, made up of four vice presidents; the provost and vice provost; the academic senate past and incoming chair; a dean; and leadership of police, human resources, and the YSU Foundation. The constituency group’s feedback and comments were considered during the board’s final deliberations. … This process was thorough, followed the current best-practice advice from our search firm WittKiefer, and was conducted with the utmost integrity. We assure you that every step was taken with the best interests of YSU at heart.”

The letter was signed by Michael A. Peterson, chair of the board of trustees.

Johnsons has said he plans to resign his House post in the first quarter of 2024. He is scheduled to take over as YSU president on March 15.

Dec. 20 is the election filing deadline for candidates wanting to run in the March 19, 2024, primary for the full two-year term to represent the 6th District. With Johnson’s resignation occurring after the Dec. 20 deadline, the state likely will be unable to schedule a special primary in March and then a special election in August 2024 for the seat.

Because a Republican and Democratic primary is needed before a general election for the unexpired term, the seat wouldn’t be filled until the November 2024 election, leaving the district without a representative for most of 2024.