In December we reported that the sudden firing of Duquesne University School of Law Dean Donald Guter had provoked controversy on the campus of the Pittsburgh-based private Catholic university.
Now the Legal Intelligencer reports that after an official review, the faculty senate is unhappy with how university President Charles Dougherty handled the situation.
“[T]he manner in which the president dismissed Dean Guter caused harm to the university, and should not have been undertaken without the most serious of cause,” the faculty senate said in the statement. “It may have harmed the students who were preparing for finals. It certainly cast Duquesne in an unfavorable light in the national media and alienated some donors. This action deprived faculty, who were not consulted in the review process, of the role accorded them by the faculty handbook and executive resolution III. Further, it has contributed to an unhealthy atmosphere of distrust and fear that is contrary to our Spiritan Mission and Identity.”
In case you were wondering, “Spiritan” is actually a word. It refers to a member of the Congregation of The Holy Spirit, a Catholic congregation of priests.
Dougherty replaced Guter with law professor Ken Gormley.
Via Legal Intelligencer.