Heated crowd confronts Mayville State president after abrupt firing of volleyball coach

MAYVILLE, N.D. — After years of turmoil, it appears tensions have reached a boiling point. Alumni, current students, and the community came face-to-face with the president of Mayville State University on Wednesday, May 31.

About 75 people gathered in the parking lot of Old Main with plans to march to the front of the building to confront university President Brian Van Horn mainly over the firing of women’s volleyball coach Lindsay Johnson after 15 seasons.

Instead, Van Horn came to them, saying he was there to address their questions.

Horn started by reading a prepared statement, but was repeatedly interrupted by the crowd.

One of the big questions was why Johnson was fired last week after 15 seasons.

Horn cited confidentiality reasons as to why he couldn’t answer the question.

Johnson ran to stop Van Horn after his speech, hoping he would say his reason for firing her to the crowd.

Paul Hanson, an alum of Mayville State, organized the rally.

“This is about a crescendo of events that’s happened on the Mayville State campus,” Hanson said.

Since Van Horn took over in 2018, the university has made headlines. In 2021 the North Dakota Board of Higher Education warned the president against “bad behavior” after receiving an anonymous complaint.

Last year an audit found 15 employees were mistakenly overpaid $175,000. Then men’s basketball coach Darren Tighe — who drove four hours to attend Wednesday’s rally— resigned two games into the season.

Last week Johnson, who also worked at the university, was given 15 minutes to clean out her office.

“Lindsay has given her soul, her whole body and soul to teaching and coaching at Mayville State University. She’s just a great role model for young women,” said former Mayville state faculty member Donna Mark.

Johnson, who is also a graduate of Mayville State, said an ongoing “list of behaviors” was cited as the reason she was fired, though she said she’s never been spoken to or put on any type of performance plan.

“The love that you have for this place didn’t mean anything,” Johnson said. “At least he would have to say it to my face.”

Many in the crowd said they are still frustrated, noting the president did not address a single issue of theirs during his five minutes of prepared remarks.

“It’s the fact that on a Wednesday night that people show up and support you and love you, and it’s what makes this so sad,” Johnson said.

Hanson said the plan now is to rally the crowd to send messages to the North Dakota Board of Higher Education.

Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years. He was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia and attended college at Lyndon State College in northern Vermont, where he was recognized twice nationally, including first place, by the National Academy for Arts and Science for television production. Matt enjoys being a voice for the little guy. He focuses on crimes and courts and investigative stories. Just as often, he shares tear-jerking stories and stories of accomplishment. Matt enjoys traveling to small towns across North Dakota and Minnesota to share their stories. He can be reached at mhenson@wday.com and at 610-639-9215. When he’s not at work (rare) Matt resides in Moorhead and enjoys spending time with his daughter, golfing and attending Bison and Sioux games.