Faculty and students support Suffolk University president during standoff with trustees
The public standoff between Suffolk University president Margaret McKenna and the school’s trustees may reach its peak next week when the board votes on whether to fire the school’s president, The Boston Globe reports.
On Friday, McKenna swore she would not give into pressure from the trustees to vacate the position she has held for seven months.
The same day, Andrew Meyer, the chairman of the board of the trustees sent McKenna a letter warning her against fighting to keep her job, according to the Globe.
Faculty, students, and alumni have rallied around the university president, with many showing their support on social media with the hashtag #SUStandsWithMcKenna. On Friday, the faculty took a vote of “deep and sincere’’ confidence in McKenna, according to the Globe.
“This has a lot more to do with the problems with the chairman of the board than with any of the presidents,’’ Matthew W. Jerram, a psychology professor who has taught at Suffolk for 11 years, told the Globe.
Next week, the student government association will take a vote of no confidence in Meyer and call for him to step down, the Globe reports.
“To use this route instead of dialogue is just absolutely disheartening and quite frankly, childish,’’ Colin Loiselle, a senior and student government president, told the Globe. “In the past, nobody has challenged [the board] and now we know why, because when you do, this is what happens.’’
McKenna, the fifth president in five years at the university, was selected after first choice Martin T. Meehan took the position of president at University of Massachusetts. She signed a five-year contract, with an annual salary of about $650,000, according to the Globe.
Read the full Globe report here.
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