The [campus] critics’ cause had been energized in 1995 when The Chronicle of Higher Education listed Dr. Diamandopoulos’s annual compensation at $523,626. That made it second among university presidents only to his mentor, John R. Silber at Boston University. The critics formed the Coalition to Save Adelphi and raised $620,000, mostly for lawyers.

Meanwhile, defenders of Dr. Diamandopoulos said removing him would be catastrophic. “What’s happening at Adelphi is a watershed moment in higher education,” Dr. Silber said in 1996. A coup “would be nothing short of a national calamity” and “an uncompromising disaster for education,” he said.

The state attorney general’s office investigated, and Board of Regents hearings found that Dr. Diamandopoulos’s compensation had actually reached $837,113, plus $2 million in retirement entitlements.

The details smacked of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” The president’s official residence on the edge of the campus was a Tudor house with maid service. Adelphi also bought a $1.2 million Manhattan condominium for his use. It spent $196,275 to upgrade and furnish it, including an electrified system to melt snow on the terrace and $1,800 for towel racks and soap dishes.

Other benefits included health, life and property insurance; trips to Europe; and entertainment expenses, including one $454 bar tab with Dr. Silber.

But Adelphi’s trustees had never voted on his compensation; only a small committee even knew the details. Adelphi even concealed the largesse from the Internal Revenue Service for five years, incurring an $11,500 fine.

The Regents also found conflicts of interest involving two trustees, including the former board chairwoman. Her insurance company was found to have gotten $1.2 million in fees for handling Adelphi’s accounts.

In an extraordinary intervention, the Regents replaced Adelphi’s trustees for mismanagement, and the new board pushed out Dr. Diamandopoulos in 1997. He contested the ouster at first but then joined Dr. Silber’s staff at Boston University.