John R. Ryan, the SUNY chancellor who became controversial among students when he advocated for gradual tuition hikes and the termination of Bar Crawl, announced last week that he will be resigning ‘ but not until May 31, nearly two weeks after the pre-graduation bacchanalia is set to grace the streets of Downtown Binghamton.

Ryan made headlines at schools across the State University of New York system last October when he decried alcohol-heavy activities like BU’s Bar Crawl and SUNY-Albany’s Fountain Day, and vowed to ban them while promoting more alcohol education across SUNY’s 64 campuses. He also announced that he would be advocating for gradual tuition hikes ‘ along with an increase in government spending for public higher education.

Ryan told The New York Times that his decision to take a position at a small nonprofit organization in Greensboro, N.C., wasn’t easy, and stemmed from his desire to spend more time with his wife. He said the time away from home was not ‘something I wanted to sustain for another three or four years.’

Ryan’s retirement after less than three years of service is expected to draw the SUNY system further into Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s sphere of influence. Spitzer’s plan to set up a commission on public higher education, and his inherent power to appoint 15 of the 16 members of SUNY’s Board of Trustees, arose speculation that Spitzer had pressured Ryan to resign. A Spitzer spokeswoman told the Times that the governor had nothing to do with the move, and called Ryan a ‘person of integrity.’

Through a statement, Binghamton University President Lois B. DeFleur said the announcement was surprising, and that Ryan ‘has been a strong leader and advocate for the campuses and the State University of New York is much stronger because of his efforts.’

With the Wednesday announcement came speculation over who would be taking over as head of the country’s largest public university system. The appointment of Ryan’s successor will be decided by the Board of Trustees, with the counsel of Manuel Rivera, the deputy secretary of education.