The vote, first announced on April 5 and conducted over four days since then, was the first to span the faculty at large, but it was not the first no-confidence vote against Frederick. In 2017 leaders of the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in him, and this month they did so again.
Among all full-time faculty members eligible to vote, 61 percent declared no confidence in the president, and the same percentage voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees. With 292 participating voters, this represents a faculty turnout of about 30 percent, according to results announced on Thursday.
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Faculty members at Howard U. voted no confidence in Wayne A.I. Frederick, the university’s president, on the heels of an eight-day student sit-in.
The vote, first announced on April 5 and conducted over four days since then, was the first to span the faculty at large, but it was not the first no-confidence vote against Frederick. In 2017 leaders of the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in him, and this month they did so again.
Among all full-time faculty members eligible to vote, 61 percent declared no confidence in the president, and the same percentage voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees. With 292 participating voters, this represents a faculty turnout of about 30 percent, according to results announced on Thursday.
Among the faculty’s complaints were that Frederick had failed to oversee facilities maintenance and had misrepresented one crisis as a “weather-related” emergency, that he had failed to engage with professors to develop a strategic plan for the university, and that he had failed to propose a timely budget.
Stacey J. Mobley, chairman of the board, said on Tuesday in a statement quoted by The Washington Post that there is “no question that Howard University has the right leadership in place.”
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“Transformation and change is not easy,” he continued, “but despite these challenges, Howard’s current leadership has made positive strides to improve operations and infrastructure, increase resources, and modernize the institution, while ensuring Howard remains true to its mission.”
The vote was held at the tail end of students’ eight-day occupation of the campus’s main administration building and during negotiations between them and trustees to meet the protesters’ demands. But members of the Faculty Senate’s leadership council said any connection between the vote and the protest was not intentional.
“It should be understood that the council’s actions were not meant to embarrass individuals or impugn the reputation of the university. Despite their timing, the council votes of no confidence are not meant to piggyback on the current student protests or co-opt their demands,” according to a statement by the Faculty Senate. “Rather, they are meant to signal the need, at this critical time, for leadership transition, and to set the course for the immediate and long-term direction of Howard University.”
The protesters’ occupation ended on April 6 with the students claiming success on eight of their nine demands. Faculty Senate leaders are now calling for a response by April 23 from the trustees, “specifically as it relates to leadership transition.”
Correction (4/13/2018, 3:54 p.m.): A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Stacey J. Mobley as a woman. He is a man. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.
