Breaking: University President resigns after saying struggling freshman are bunnies to be drowned and shot

Last updated on: February 29, 2016 at 7:49 pm by Keith Michael Estrada

Breaking: University President resigns after saying struggling freshman are bunnies to be drowned and shot 2016-02-29T19:49:53-07:00 Keith Michael Estrada

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In order to boost retention rates at Mount St. Mary’s University, President Simon Newman suggested a no-mercy approach to struggling first-year students. Faced with pushback at the idea of seeking out students for dismissal, President Newman responded to the rebuke by insisting that struggling students could not be thought of as “cuddly bunnies,” but suggested “You just have to drown the bunnies…put a Glock to their heads.”

President Simon Newman. Photo from biography page on Mount St. Mary's website. Fair use: commentary and reporting.

President Simon Newman. Photo from biography page on Mount St. Mary’s website. Fair use: commentary and news reporting.

President Newman’s remarks drew intense criticism from around the nation after the student university editorial, The Mountain Echo, first brought the story to light on February 19th of this year.

Today, less than two weeks later, the University’s board of trustees announced that Mr. Newman would be resigning from his role as president of the university.

The Baltimore Sun reports,

Mount St. Mary’s University President Simon Newman has resigned his post, the Emmitsburg school announced Monday.

Karl Einolf, dean of the Richard J. Bolte Sr. School of Business, has been named by the Board of Trustees as the school’s acting president.

“The board is grateful to President Newman for his many accomplishments over the past year, including strengthening the University’s finances, developing a comprehensive strategic plan for our future, and bringing many new ideas to campus that have benefited the entire Mount community,” said John Coyne, Chairman of the Mount St. Mary’s University Board of Trustees. “We thank him for his service.”

In addition to comparing struggling students to bunnies who ought to be drowned and shot, Newman had been the subject of criticism for firing a pair of professors.

According to the Washington Post,

Newman came to the campus in 2015 with plans for sweeping changes, such as boosting enrollment, shoring up its finances and raising its national profile. His blunt business manner — he had been in the financial industry for his entire career — was welcome to some and jarring to others. But the real turmoil began this year after the student newspaper, the Mountain Echo, reported that Newman had planned to cull struggling freshmen early in the semester, before a federal reporting deadline, to improve the university’s retention rate.

When two professors were subsequently fired — one with tenure, one who had been the adviser to the Echo — many interpreted it as retaliation for opposing Newman’s policies despite the administration’s denial that it was retribution.

A national outcry over academic freedom ensued, with more than 8,000 scholars digitally signing a document asking for the professors to be reinstated. They were, but the faculty voted 87 to 3 to ask Newman to resign by Feb. 15. He did not do so.

The news release on Mount St. Mary’s website includes a statement from Newman which reads:

“I am proud of what I have been able to achieve in a relatively short time particularly in helping the University chart a clear course toward a bright future,” said Simon Newman. “I care deeply about the school and the recent publicity relating to my leadership has become too great of a distraction to our mission of educating students. It was a difficult decision but I believe it is the right course of action for the Mount at this time.”

Concerning his devastating ‘bunnies’ remark, Newman told the Washington Post that “he didn’t remember exactly what he said in the conversation that was quoted, but acknowledged he has sometimes used language that was regrettable.”

-END-

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