> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
Ticker circle logo

The Ticker: All Members of Faculty Senate at Gordon College Resign Their Posts

Breaking news from all corners of academe.

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

All Members of Faculty Senate at Gordon College Resign Their Posts

By  Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez
April 7, 2017

(Updated, 11:30 p.m., 4/9/2017, with additional background.)

All seven members of Gordon College’s Faculty Senate resigned from their elected posts on Wednesday over disagreements with administrators over shared governance,

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

(Updated, 11:30 p.m., 4/9/2017, with additional background.)

All seven members of Gordon College’s Faculty Senate resigned from their elected posts on Wednesday over disagreements with administrators over shared governance, The Tartan, the Massachusetts campus’s student newspaper, reported.

According to The Boston Globe, the resignations came in an apparent show of support for a faculty member who says she was denied a promotion because she has criticized the Christian college’s opposition to same-sex relationships.

The faculty member, Margaret DeWeese-Boyd, an assistant professor of sociology, asserts in a complaint to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination that the college’s president and provost denied her a promotion to full professor, overriding a unanimous recommendation of the Faculty Senate, because she has openly criticized the policy since 2013.

The college strongly disagrees with the allegations made in Ms. DeWeese-Boyd’s complaint, a spokesman told the Globe, but he declined to comment further, saying the college does not discuss personnel issues.

ADVERTISEMENT

The faculty members who resigned from the senate did not mention Ms. DeWeese-Boyd by name in a statement about their resignations, a lawyer for the professor told the Globe, but they cited the president’s refusal to follow the senate’s recommendations for promotions.

The college spokesman, Rick Sweeney, said in an email to The Chronicle that administrators were disappointed that the faculty senators who resigned had “rejected a request for further conversation before their decision became final.”

“In their verbal statement to faculty colleagues, the chairperson affirmed the authority and decision-making role of the administration but said she felt the senators could not reconcile divergent views on the process and could no longer be effective in their roles,” Mr. Sweeney said. “We continue to believe that a highly effective Senate facilitates the flourishing of Gordon’s faculty and very much want to work together in collaborative and valuable forms of shared governance, especially when perspectives differ on the process and outcomes.”

The college’s policy forbidding “homosexual practice” among its students, faculty, and staff has put it in the spotlight before. In 2014, its president, D. Michael Lindsay, joined the leaders of 13 other religious colleges in signing a letter requesting an exemption from a federal ban on anti-gay discrimination by federal contractors.

Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez
Fernanda is newsletter product manager at The Chronicle. She is the voice behind Chronicle newsletters like the Weekly Briefing, Five Weeks to a Better Semester, and more. She also writes about what Chronicle readers are thinking. Send her an email at fernanda@chronicle.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin