Mount St. Mary Faculty Reinstated / Update: Faculty Ask President To Resign By Monday


This afternoon Mount St. Mary’s University announced that its president, Simon Newman, had agreed to reinstate Thane Naberhaus and Edward Egan, the two faculty members who were fired for “disloyalty” earlier this week, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education CHE also reports on Naberhaus’s response:

But one of those faculty members—Thane M. Naberhaus, a tenured associate professor of philosophy—said he would not accept the college’s offer. “Hell no,” Mr. Naberhaus said in response to an email asking if he would agree to the reinstatement. “Not going back until he’s gone,” he said, referring to the university’s embattled president, Simon P. Newman.

Despite the offer of reinstatement, Egan and Naberhaus still need assistance with legal fees, as a lawsuit against the university may still be warranted.

Further, ethical and legal questions remain regarding Newman’s plan to secretly use student survey results to cull the student population.

I’ll update the post with more news as it becomes available.

UPDATE: From The Washington Post:

In an 87-to-3 vote, the faculty in a letter asked Newman to step down by Monday morning. The faculty stopped short of a no-confidence vote, something that had been discussed during the week, choosing to ask for resignation instead.

The brief letter, in part, reads:

You have only been with us a short time. We know all too well the great love for this communitythat comes to those who join us. But it has become apparent that negative public attention hasinterfered with our ability to continue in our work and to bring new students and faculty to thiscampus. We have come to the sad conclusion that this state of affairs cannot be resolved whileyou continue in your current office. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart, in a loving spirit ofcompassion and forgiveness, that we appeal to your generosity of spirit and ask that you resignyour position for the good of our community by 9:00 AM on February 15, 2016.

(via James Higgins in the comments)

 

USI Switzerland Philosophy
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

8 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Prezident Newman
8 years ago

Imagine if Peter said “Hell no” after Christ offered to forgive him for denying him three times. Professor Naberhaus’s response to the gracious olive branch extended to him is just as bad.

John Schwenkler
John Schwenkler
Reply to  Prezident Newman
8 years ago

@prezidentnewman you are such a light in all this darkness. Drop me a line? I am easy to find.

Becca H.
Becca H.
8 years ago

Good for him. I wouldn’t want to work under someone who appears willing and able to fire (and then re-hire) tenured faculty at a moment’s notice either.

John Schwenkler
John Schwenkler
8 years ago

Faculty at the Mount voted this afternoon, following the announcement of the “merciful” reinstatement of the faculty, calling on Simon Newman to resign by Monday 9am. I can’t track down the link now, but use the Google.

James Higgins
James Higgins
8 years ago

Here’s the transcript of the letter that was forwarded to Simon Newman, along with an explanation of some of the other events. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/12/mount-st-marys-president-offers-to-reinstate-faculty-who-were-fired/

I am doubtful that one with such character would resign willingly, but here’s to hoping.

Heath White
Heath White
8 years ago

James, “willingly” in this context is a matter of optics. He’s done.

Dale Miller
8 years ago

I’m a little unclear on how this stops short of a no-confidence vote.

Matt Drabek
Matt Drabek
8 years ago

The “negative public attention” remark smacks of exactly the kind of fun sarcasm that has been sorely missing from criticism of these business/management-speak hacks. It’s the exact verbiage the president used in firing the faculty. I know it’s horseshit. You know it’s horseshit. Everyone knows it’s horseshit. Might as well throw it back at him.