Eventual departure of Suffolk University president, board chairman approved by trustees
The Suffolk University Board of Trustees approved an agreement Friday “that will enhance the future of the university’’ and includes the eventual departure of the board’s chairman and school’s president, according to a joint statement by board chairman Andrew Meyer and university president Margaret McKenna.
Meyer will complete his current term, but will not seek re-election to the board, which has also agreed to adopt new bylaws “that reflect best practices in higher education’’ by May. Following those new bylaws, a search committee will be formed for a “new, permanent president,’’ with McKenna vacating the position once the new candidate takes office by the beginning of the next academic year, according to the statement.
The board’s vote follows a week-long public standoff between McKenna and Meyer over her position and leadership at the school, which prompted current and former students of the university to rally in support of the president and call for Meyer’s resignation.
In response to the outcry from faculty, students, and Boston officials, the university announced on Thursday that the chairman and president were working together on a proposal to be put before the board for approval.
“President McKenna and Meyer are grateful to the members of the board for adopting a fair-minded plan that sets in motion a path for progress in improving the governance of Suffolk University,’’ the statement said. “The board believes in this great institution and has expressed its gratitude to the chair and to the president for their good-faith efforts to reach agreement on the proposal passed by the board today.’’
On Friday afternoon, students and alumni remained unsatisfied with the board’s resolution.
Colin Loiselle, president of the school’s Student Government Association and a senior political science major, said he was “extremely’’ disappointed with the decision.
“To call this a resolution is insulting to the entire community,’’ he said in a statement. “We will regroup and fight this. This decision is not in the best interest of the University.’’
The group Alumni for the Integrity of Suffolk Unversity also expressed disappointment in the agreement, but said in a statement the group is looking “forward to remaining just as engaged’’ as it has been so far.
“We stand firm that Andrew Meyer and his executive committee ought to step down effective immediately and that all relationships with Regan Communications Group be investigated by a third party,’’ the group said. “And while we believed that President McKenna’s entire contract should be fulfilled, we are hopeful that we may engage regularly with her office and the Board of Trustees so that we may work together on securing a reasonable new era of governance at Suffolk.’’
McKenna, who has held her position for seven months, has a five-year contract with the univsersity and is the fifth president at the school in five years.
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