Headmaster of Ojai Boarding School Resigns

The headmaster of a prestigious Ojai Valley boarding school has announced his resignation, in part because of a sexual harassment and discrimination suit brought against him and the school.

Willard G. Wyman, 61, headmaster of the Thacher School since 1976, told students and faculty at an assembly Monday that he will step down at the 103-year-old school, the oldest private academy west of the Mississippi River.

On Wednesday, Wyman denied all allegations against him and the school and said the lawsuit--filed in February in Ventura County Superior Court by former horseback riding instructor Barbara Orr--”only played a minor part in my decision.”

School officials announced that Wyman will step aside in July, becoming headmaster emeritus and assuming responsibility for a $5-million fund-raising project to build a dormitory on the sprawling, wooded campus five miles east of Ojai.

In the discrimination suit, Orr said she left her 11-year post as a riding instructor after being denied a promotion to head the equestrian program. The suit alleges that Wyman told her the school would not put a woman in the post.

Orr also claims that she was the victim of physical and verbal sexual harassment when Wyman made unwanted sexual advances and touched and kissed her without her consent.

The Thacher School curriculum mixes an equestrian program with a rigorous academic load that regularly lands many of its 220 students in Ivy League universities. Tuition is $18,000 a year.

The outdoorsy approach to education is a legacy of school founder Sherman Day Thacher, who opened the school in an orange grove near Ojai in 1889, offering young men from across the country a chance to live in the environs of the Old West while receiving an education.

One of Wyman’s legacies to the school was his decision to begin admitting women in 1977.

Although she declined to comment on the pending litigation, Orr said she was pleased to hear that Wyman had resigned. “I’m relieved that he is no longer in a position to do what was done to me,” she said.

Students and staff said they expected Wyman to resign after rumors of the lawsuit circulated around the school for weeks.

Wyman’s decision to step down was made in part to deflect negative publicity directed at the school, said assistant headmaster Michael Mulligan, who will serve as interim headmaster for the 1992-93 year.

“Bill does not want to be the center of anything that will weaken the school,” Mulligan said.

Students praised Wyman as a headmaster Wednesday, saying he will be missed. “We knew it was coming, because of all the rumors,” said senior Paige Fulton, 18. “It’s sad, because this is sort of an end to an era, and he did so much for the school.

“I wouldn’t even be here if not for him, because he’s the one who let girls in,” Fulton said.