SUNY chancellor embroiled in Cuomo scandal; conservative groups call for his resignation

Conservative New York college students are calling for the resignation of the chancellor of the State University of New York following his alleged involvement in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home scandal.

The Wall Street Journal revealed that Jim Malatras — a longtime Cuomo adviser and current SUNY Chancellor — was among the officials who reviewed and requested modifications to a report about nursing home deaths in the state. 

Currently, Cuomo is under federal investigation for allegedly concealing the number of COVID-19 deaths in state nursing homes. In March 2020, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to bring COVID-infected seniors back into their facilities.

Lindsay Boylan — one of the women presently accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment — recently slammed Malatras on Twitter for defaming her after raising concerns about a toxic work culture.

While @jimmalatras was the head of @RockefellerInst, the second floor asked him to defame me online after I spoke up about a toxic work culture. Here is the exchange. That’s how Jim worked then and that’s how Jim works now. https://t.co/QvjUNHXAuc

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) March 6, 2021

State lawmakers — including the Democratic majority leader of the New York State Senate — called for Cuomo to step down. Accordingly, the New York College Republicans called for Malatras’s resignation.

PRESS RELEASE: NY College Republicans Call on SUNY Chancellor Jimmy Malatras to Resign pic.twitter.com/rT58WDBxq4

— New York College Republicans (@NYFCRs) March 5, 2021

“He has made it clear to students that he is not capable of being an independent leader of the SUNY system and does not have our best interests in mind,” said the group.

“We knew from the very beginning that Malatras was a total Cuomo crony, put in place so that our power-hungry, corrupt sexual predator Governor could exert total control over the SUNY system,” the group added. “He was put in place with little to no input from actual stakeholders like students, professors, and administrators.”

“Given my expertise in public policy, including public health issues, such as opioid issues and health care, I was asked to help review and provide feedback on the scientific language in that public report, to make it more accessible for a general audience,”  Malatras said during a press event.  

”That’s the exact role I played while at the Rockefeller Institute of Government on dozens of reports as they neared publication,” he added. “As with many reports, there were back and forth, with structure, citations, and updating of the language during the process. But to be clear, I included the fatalities data provided by the New York State Department of Health, which I did not alter or change. So I’m going to leave it at that.”

As Campus Reform reported previously, the New York College Democrats and College Republicans released statements calling for Cuomo’s resignation.

[RELATED: Uh oh Andy: Bipartisan calls from NY students for Cuomo to step aside]

Campus Reform reached out to SUNY for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft