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Uproar at Mount St. Mary’s

Simon P. Newman is president of Mount St. Mary’s U., in Maryland. The dispute over a retention plan he pushed has now sparked a round of casualties. The provost, who was asked to step down, remains on the faculty, but two other professors were fired.
Simon P. Newman is president of Mount St. Mary’s U., in Maryland. The dispute over a retention plan he pushed has now sparked a round of casualties. The provost, who was asked to step down, remains on the faculty, but two other professors were fired.

A controversial freshman-retention plan at Mount St. Mary’s University of Maryland, and the way the institution has handled the ensuing criticism, has cast the small Roman Catholic campus, and its president, Simon P. Newman, in a harsh light. You can read Chronicle coverage, along with commentaries, in these articles.

After Simon P. Newman compared struggling freshmen to bunnies who should be drowned, the Roman Catholic college was thrust into a weeks-long spotlight. Its new leader has tried to steady the ship.
Leadership
A Year After Controversy Toppled Its Divisive President, Mount St. Mary’s Forges Ahead
By Sarah Brown
After Simon P. Newman compared struggling freshmen to bunnies who should be drowned, the Roman Catholic college was thrust into a weeks-long spotlight. Its new leader has tried to steady the ship.
Simon Newman, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, prepared to address a student rally last month at Mount St. Mary’s U., in Maryland. Mr. Newman brought a corporate culture to a Catholic college with disastrous results.
Academic Culture
The Mount St. Mary’s Presidency Was a Corporate Test Case. It Failed Miserably.
By Jack Stripling
Simon Newman’s “drown the bunnies” comment triggered the crisis that led to his resignation as the college’s president. But it was his temperament as a hard-nosed private-equity executive that may well have doomed his tenure from the start.
Simon P. Newman resigned on Monday night, effective immediately. His departure caps a weeks-long furor that drew national attention to the Roman Catholic institution in rural Maryland.
Uproar at Mount St. Mary's
Simon Newman Resigns as President of Mount St. Mary’s
By Nick DeSantis, Katherine Mangan
The controversial leader’s resignation caps a weeks-long furor that drew national attention to the Roman Catholic university in rural Maryland.
The controversial retention measures of Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary’s U., in Emmitsburg, Md., and how he described them, have brought the Roman Catholic college unwanted attention.
Leadership
How Mount St. Mary’s Chose Simon Newman as Its President
By Katherine Mangan
The former private-equity chief executive threw his hat into the ring on the last day applications were accepted, promising to bring national exposure to the Maryland campus.
Are Struggling College Students Like Cuddly Bunnies That Should Be Drowned? 1
Metaphor Watch
Are Struggling College Students Like Cuddly Bunnies That Should Be Drowned?
By Steve Kolowich
A trip down the rabbit hole of a scandalous analogy.
Leadership
How 3 Crisis-Communications Experts Would Have Handled the Uproar at Mount St. Mary’s
By Rio Fernandes
Many in academe have been quick to criticize Simon P. Newman’s response to the furor on the Maryland campus. Here’s how PR professionals would have done it differently.
Thane M. Naberhaus, fired earlier this week as a tenured associate professor of philosophy at the private Maryland institution, has received a new letter suggesting the "possibility of conciliation."
Faculty
Mount St. Mary’s Tells Tenured Professor It Fired That He Remains on the Payroll but Is Suspended
By Sarah Brown
The university encouraged Thane M. Naberhaus to meet with campus officials so they could “explore the possibility of conciliation.”
Mount St. Mary's U., a Roman Catholic institution in Maryland, demoted its provost and fired two professors this week. Those actions have drawn widespread rebukes, from the American Association of University Professors, free-speech groups, and professors at other universities, among others.
Faculty
Fallout at Mount St. Mary’s Spreads as Scholars Protest Firings
By Sarah Brown, Katherine Mangan
The American Association of University Professors and free-speech groups are among those condemning the university’s abrupt dismissal of two faculty members this week.
Simon Newman was ousted as president of Mount St. Mary's U. of Maryland after more than 8,000 people signed a petition demanding his resignation.
News
A President’s Plan to Steer Out At-Risk Freshmen Incites a Campus Backlash
By Katherine Mangan
Faculty members at Mount St. Mary’s University, in Maryland, are objecting to their president’s suggestion that they “drown the bunnies” to keep struggling students from making a mistake.
Simon P. Newman is president of Mount St. Mary’s U., in Maryland. The dispute over a retention plan he pushed has now sparked a round of casualties. The provost, who was asked to step down, remains on the faculty, but two other professors were fired.
Leadership
Turmoil Continues at a Maryland Campus With a Provost’s Resignation and Faculty Firings
By Katherine Mangan
The dispute over a controversial retention plan pushed by the president of Mount St. Mary’s University has now sparked a round of casualties.
Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary’s U. of Maryland, says student journalists distorted his comments “to concoct a story that we’re trying to kick people out.” The students stand by their reporting.
Leadership
How a Freshman-Retention Plan Turned Into a PR Disaster for One Campus
By Sarah Brown
The president of Mount St. Mary’s University of Maryland has drawn fire for comments about steering underperforming freshmen from the campus. He says bad communication turned the situation messy.
Mount St. Mary’s U.
News
From Managing a Private-Equity Fund to Leading a Catholic University
Wanting to make “a bigger, global impact,” Simon Newman left his financial jobs to lead Mount St. Mary’s University.
“You just have to drown the bunnies,” said Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary’s U., referring to struggling freshmen. His words, reported by the student newspaper, have reverberated far beyond the Maryland campus.
The Review
An Appalling Breach of Faith at Mount St. Mary’s
By Patricia McGuire
Disrespecting students and trampling the rights of faculty members at the Maryland university contradict the mission of Roman Catholic higher education.
The Review
A Violation of Trust at Mount St. Mary’s
By Anne Hendershott
For a president to effect change at a struggling institution, he needs to be able to count on his faculty to work with him, not against him.