Sam Yu, The Frederick News-Post
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.
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LeadershipA Year After Controversy Toppled Its Divisive President, Mount St. Mary’s Forges Ahead
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. -
Academic Culture
The Mount St. Mary’s Presidency Was a Corporate Test Case. It Failed Miserably.
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. -
Uproar at Mount St. Mary's
Simon Newman Resigns as President of Mount St. Mary’s
The controversial leader’s resignation caps a weeks-long furor that drew national attention to the Roman Catholic university in rural Maryland. -
Leadership
How Mount St. Mary’s Chose Simon Newman as Its President
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. -
Metaphor Watch
Are Struggling College Students Like Cuddly Bunnies That Should Be Drowned?
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
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. -
Faculty
Mount St. Mary’s Tells Tenured Professor It Fired That He Remains on the Payroll but Is Suspended
The university encouraged Thane M. Naberhaus to meet with campus officials so they could “explore the possibility of conciliation.” -
Faculty
Fallout at Mount St. Mary’s Spreads as Scholars Protest Firings
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. -
News
A President’s Plan to Steer Out At-Risk Freshmen Incites a Campus Backlash
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. -
Leadership
Turmoil Continues at a Maryland Campus With a Provost’s Resignation and Faculty Firings
The dispute over a controversial retention plan pushed by the president of Mount St. Mary’s University has now sparked a round of casualties. -
Leadership
How a Freshman-Retention Plan Turned Into a PR Disaster for One Campus
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. -
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. -
The Review
An Appalling Breach of Faith at Mount St. Mary’s
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
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.
