Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 94 • Issue 16 • January 29, 2016
THE MAROON FOR A GREATER LOYOLA
Faculty members weigh in on "no confidence" vote By Nicholas Ducote naducote@loyno.edu @naducote89
RODRIANA EDWARDS / The Maroon
The Rev. Kevin Wildes S.J., university president, speaks at the faculty and staff convocation in August 2015. University senate members confirmed a vote of "no confidence" Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.
Wildes responds to 'no confidence' By Colleen Dulle mcdulle@loyno.edu @ColleenDulle
After the university senate’s vote of “no confidence” in the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, and the Board of Trustees’ statement of confidence in him, Wildes spoke with The Maroon in an exclusive interview, his first public comment on the vote. Wildes emphasized the efforts he has already made to improve relations with students, faculty and the Board of Trustees, including working with the Black Student Union and the Living Our Vision Everyday chapter of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs to find a new chief diversity officer and leaving his door in Carrollton Hall open to students. He also hopes to bring faculty members to the March meeting of the Board of Trustees to improve relations between the two groups. How do you feel about the vote of “no confidence"? "There’s two levels where I would respond: one is a personal level, and of course I’m disappointed, you know. As I will often say to people
when they work with me, you know, I’ve always been the A student, and I’ve worked throughout all my life and I’ve succeeded, but this is like I got a bad grade on a test. That’s an analogy. I don’t want to trivialize in any way; I take it very seriously. We’re going through, as is higher education in general, some really challenging times. We’re beyond the Katrina piece; it’s the economic collapse in ’08 that really has hurt higher education. … So, on the one hand, you can do nothing, which I don’t think is a choice because I love this place. I see my job; I hold it in trust. There will be somebody in this chair—there have been many people before me and there will be many people after me, and I just, I want to make sure that the trust gets passed on, so that there will be many people sitting in this spot. … Personally, I’m disappointed, but we have tough things to do; we’re not alone in this, as I said, the national landscape for higher education is improving, but it’s been hard."
If I could design my world, I would teach an undergraduate class twice a week, but because of my schedule, I’m going to D.C. for example, the second half of this week. One of the other challenges is what you don’t see, that about 50 percent of my time or more … is about fundraising. And some of that is here. We’ve gotten some significant gifts from locally, but a lot of it is elsewhere, and so I spend more time with the TSA than I care to [laughs]. We haven’t done any sort of comprehensive [fundraising] campaign in almost 20 years, which for a private university is ridiculous, frankly. … I think people aren’t used to a president who’s traveling for fundraising reasons, so … just because we do not have a rich tradition of fundraising, I think it’s a new adjustment for people, the fact that I’m on the road as much as I am."
Do you plan to make any immediate changes because of the vote?
"The other night I was at the basketball game. Coming from Philadelphia, I love basketball, so that’s an easy way. I think once in a while trying to have lunch in the OR, things like that. And I’m going to continue teaching, you know. God help the poor people who have to sit
"I’m going to keep doing a lot of what I’ve been doing, but I will make conscious effort to be more intentional, to be more obvious and present on campus.
Do you have any concrete ideas for being more visible on campus?
through it! [laughs]" What do you think of the Board of Trustees’ statement of support after the vote? "I did not ask them to do this; they just did it, so I think they just wanted to be very clear that they support where we are, what we’re doing and where we’re going." There could be a conception now of “the Board and president vs. the faculty.” How would you address that? "My job is both to lead the board and to lead the faculty and staff and students toward where we want to be, toward our university goals and things like that … So it’s not an us-them. And in fact, a number of the board members feel that way; a number of the faculty members feel that way. There were a number of faculty members who spoke very positively both of and to John [Finan, chairperson of the Board of Trustees] and to Barry [LeBlanc, vice chairperson]. So it’s one of these things where we have to realize we’re all in this together, and how we do this is important for the success of Loyola, not me." Gage Counts contributed to this report
CarnivalLife Parade Schedule & Times p.6
Loyola staff and faculty have officially issued a vote of “no confidence” about the leadership of the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president. The Jan. 21 university senate meeting was primarily focused on the vote that solidified less faith towards Wildes. The votes piled in at 38-10 vote for “no confidence” against Wildes. Board members addressed the lack of the president’s public appearances, and their firm strategy to keep him in place, but that didn’t stop people from expressing how they felt about the way the Board of Trustees and the decision making of Wildes, especially John Levendis, associate professor of economics. “If this was a company or business, or any other school, someone would’ve gotten fired by now,” Levendis said. The board members believed that if staff voted against Wildes, then that would “impede” the university’s progress. The faculty members in attendance asked during the meeting what the board members saw in his leadership abilities, and a board member replied that they see results. For some faculty members, the meeting also brought back a reminder of what some faculty had to go through over 10 years ago during Hurricane Katrina when many staff and faculty were laid off. The school and Wildes were quick with their decision making, which led to many disgruntled staff members and former employees. Connie Rodriguez, associate professor of classical languages and cultures, was one of the many professors who survived the cuts. To her, this meeting brought out many facets that mirrored 2005 post-Katrina decision making. “There has been a pattern over the past 11 years of us struggling on-again, and off-again. We voted 'no confidence' because we need a president that will be here for us. This is not about Kevin Wildes the person, this is about the presidency of our school,” Rodriguez said. Barbara Ewell, professor of English, was one of many of the professors who felt strongly about the direction Loyola needs to go in. “There’s a lack of vision. Wildes has not been successful in stating where we’re going. I regret that we had to take this step, but for the sake of the university, it seems necessary,” Ewell said.
For more information on the vote, see page 3