By Ashley C. Killough

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas—unless you're the president of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. In a daylong meeting broadcast online this month, David B. Ashley, the president, was repeatedly grilled, and then publicly demoted, during a contentious gathering of the university system's Board of Regents.

The dressing-down followed months of public disputes over the conduct of Mr. Ashley's wife and heated exchanges between him and the university system's former chancellor, James E. Rogers. Left in its wake were an ousted president with a tarnished reputation and a state that could have a tough time attracting new leaders.

About 645 people watched the Webcast, according to the server log. And now anyone can view the archived footage on the Web site of the College of Southern Nevada.

Nevada law requires personnel sessions regarding university presidents to be held publicly. But the policy could harm the state higher-education system as it looks for a replacement for Mr. Ashley.

"It's going to be very hard under this combination of circumstances to get a rational person to agree to look at that job," says one leading higher-education consultant, who asked not to be identified to protect job prospects.

Lonely Out in Front

At the meeting, Mr. Ashley sat by himself at a long table in front of a 12-member panel of regents. Supporters and detractors were called to testify at a podium a few feet from the president. Speakers referred to him in the third person, as if he weren't even in the room.

"Sure, he's not perfect, no more than I'm not perfect and you're not perfect. He's only been in there for a few years. Give him a chance," said Fred Cox, a member of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees.

"For the amount of money we pay our president, I think we need a better return on our investment," said Jeff Knight, president of the university's Alumni Association.

Alumni representatives faulted the president for skipping an important alumni tailgate party at a football game. He also failed to attend a dinner sponsored by the association, the first time the university's president had missed the event in 27 years.

Students turned out to be Mr. Ashley's strongest defenders. "I don't care about tailgates, as long as my degree is worth something. At the end of the day, I want UNLV to be recognized internationally," said one student, Vik Sehdev, citing the opening of the university's first overseas campus, in Singapore, last year.

Regents and members of the public alike complained of the president's quiet, reserved nature—apparently an inadequate personality for Sin City. Others used words like "brilliant" and "sweet" to describe the president before their criticisms, perhaps hoping to soften their remarks.

Despite Mr. Ashley's four degrees in engineering—two from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two from Stanford University—some said he just wasn't fit for the presidency. "You're a C+ president in a situation where we need an honors student," said Robert J. Blakely, one of the regents.

The President Responds

During his time on the stand, Mr. Rogers said he was upset that Mr. Ashley had bought a house 30 miles from Las Vegas and had taken credit for attracting $125-million in fund-raising contributions that he may not have had much to do with.

"He's one of the great minds in the country who has no ability to communicate," Mr. Rogers said. "David is an isolationist. He believes he's smarter than all of us."

Mr. Ashley, whose soft-spoken voice barely reached above conversation level, remained calm and collected.

"I think people don't see the drama and passion in me," he said, "but anybody who works closely with me knows that it's there, and that I'm passionate about the university."

Minutes later, all but one regent voted against renewing his contract. The regents voted unanimously to give him a tenured faculty position instead of firing him.

Mr. Blakely, one of the regents who voted against the president, agreed. "The way I look at it, the university just lost a great man in the presidency," he said later. "But it gained a great professor in the engineering department."