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President Simon Newman of Mount St. Mary’s University goes mental

Scott Jaschik of Insidehighered.com has the report here:

The president of Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland on Monday fired two faculty members without any faculty review of his action or advance notice. One was a tenured professor who had recently criticized some of the president’s policies. The other was the adviser to the student newspaper that revealed the president recently told faculty members concerned about his retention plans that they needed to change the way they view struggling students. “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies … put a Glock to their heads,” the president said.

…. Newman’s letter firing the tenured professor — Thane M. Naberhaus of the philosophy department — accused him of disloyalty. “As an employee of Mount St. Mary’s University, you owe a duty of loyalty to this university and to act in a manner consistent with that duty. However, your recent actions, in my opinion and that of others, have violated that duty and clearly justify your termination,” said the letter. Further, the letter said that Naberhaus’s actions “have caused considerable damage” to the university and that the university might sue him. In addition, the letter told Naberhaus he was “designated persona non grata” and banned from the campus.

Mr. Newman was apparently brought in by the board as a “change agent”. No higher ed experience, but he has run a private equity fund. Thank you Connie Ballmer for saving UO from a president like this! TheFIRE has more here.

4 Comments

  1. Dog 02/09/2016

    wow, fired for disloyalty, imagine that …

    • uomatters Post author | 02/09/2016

      Yeah, I have.

  2. Pamela 02/09/2016

    My school administrators wanted me to be quiet about students that commit suicide from bullying. I could not.I had tenure. I lost my job and am still seeking justice.

    • Dog 02/10/2016

      good luck

      a little like the NFL problem with institutional admitting of concussion problems – but your situation is more serious. Mental health issues are severely unappreciated and under resources in the Higher Ed
      environment.

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