Hundreds have rallied in protest and petitioned for his reinstatement.

Why the ouster? 

The administration has offered a vague indictment about "lack of diversity" and problematic handling of racial- and gender-bias complaints. There's apparently a commissioned report, the Cooley report, about the complaints. But few have seen it.

 "Jim has not been allowed to see the Cooley report, despite repeated requests to do so by him, his legal counsel, a trustee, and me," says donor and USC board member Lloyd Greif. "Nobody has seen it." 

Greif argues that no complaint dealt with by Ellis's office "alleged any egregious conduct, and none of them involved inappropriate behavior by Jim."

Was old white male Ellis expelled for presiding over a too-little-diverse student body (and perhaps for being inadequately "diverse" himself), as determined by an arbitrary standard?

Without transparency or due process, who could know?