WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) – The state’s Board of Higher Education voted Thursday to reject the firing of the president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, who was abruptly sacked by the school’s trustees earlier this month with little explanation.

The board of trustees of the Buzzards Bay academy voted 9-1 on Dec. 4 to dismiss Admiral Richard Gurnon after less than six months on the job.

But the move needed approval by the higher education panel, which roundly criticized the decision before voting unanimously to reject it, marking the first time it has reversed the firing of a state college president.

“The board’s decision to fire you has no substance,” Aaron Spencer, vice chairman of the higher education board, told Gurnon. “Lacking approval, it has no meaning whatsoever. You are the president and you have been the president uninterrupted.” Gurnon said he was given an ultimatum – resign or be fired – but never an explanation for his ouster.

“Although I asked, I was never given a reason for this precipitous action,” he told the state board. “I could not fathom any reasons for my abrupt termination.”

At the time of his firing, Gurnon was investigating claims that a cadet was offering to pay fellow students to make Internet pornography, but trustees denied it was the reason for his dismissal. Instead, they blamed a combative relationship with the board.

“Admiral Gurnon has no talent for listening, no talent for seeing an issue from any vantage other than his own,” said Mass. Maritime Board of Trustees Chairman Arthur Desrochers, who defended the move during Thursday’s hearing at Massachusetts Bay Community College.

“Because the president is always right, the board’s only legitimate function is to serve as a rubber stamp for the president and his decisions,” he said.

Members of the higher education board pressed Desrochers for more specific examples of Gurnon’s insubordination, and Desrochers cited his refusal to schedule a retreat for the board of trustees.

He also said Gurnon ignored the board’s vote to increase summer stipends for cadets and failed to discipline an abusive staff member.

Spencer was underwhelmed by the evidence.

“Frankly, I’m surprised. I was expecting some blockbusters,” he said.

Board chairman Stephen Tocco agreed: “It was irresponsible to put that institution and those kids in that position at this time,” he said.

“You had to be there,” Desrochers said. “I’m not being wise. You really had to be there.”

A decidedly pro-Gurnon crowd of about 200 people attended the hearing, many of them Mass. Maritime staff and alumni. They gave the admiral a standing ovation following his testimony and some audience members laughed derisively while Desrochers spoke.

Several supporters testified on Gurnon’s behalf before the state board voted.

Geoffrey Wilkinson, a former chairman of the school’s board of trustees, called for the trustees to resign.

“This was not about performance but about politics,” he said.

Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday in response to reporters’ questions that he would make changes that he can on the board, and appoint trustees who have not been prejudiced by Gurnon’s firing.

“I hope to bring in some new faces and some new voices there with individuals that are completely above school politics,” Romney said.

After the vote, Gurnon embraced and shook hands with his supporters.

“Back to work,” he said. “I was not at the helm when the ship ran aground. That was taken from me.”

Asked if he would have trouble returning to the job, he said: “Not at all. I love the work.”

Gurnon has said he met with Bourne Police Chief John Ford regarding the allegations that a male student was trying to lure fellow cadets into making Internet porn for money. The admiral seized a school-owned computer from the accused student after receiving complaints about the sexual solicitation from four cadets. Ford turned the investigation over to another law enforcement agency and the student has not been charged.

In his letter, Gurnon also said his strict disciplinary policy may have led to his falling out with the board, an assertion the trustees also denied.

In addition to investigating the sex allegations, he canceled a credit card used by the student government association after it bought Bruce Springsteen tickets and a plasma TV, and suspended two students who went swimming in the Cape Cod Canal.

Gurnon is a 27-year veteran of the academy, including two years as acting president and six months as president. The century-old school prepares its 900 students for careers in the maritime industry and its graduates have the option to earn a Naval officer’s commission.

AP-ES-12-15-05 1815EST