1. Monday February 24th – Student Senate Meeting
The University Student Senate met to produce a resolution concerning the budget shortfall and the increased enrollment for the class of 2018. The student body received and email on Wednesday from Student Body President Nick Paolizzi concerning their resolution. The body of the email said, “In response to the University’s proposed Enrollment Plan for the Class of 2018, the Student Senate recently passed a resolution against this plan on Monday evening with a 28 – 3 vote. As a result, I have been invited to attend the Board of Trustees meeting tomorrow morning to present the resolution and speak on behalf of the student body.” A student body president, or any student, has never before been invited to speak at a board of trustees meeting.
2. Tuesday February 25th – Faculty Senate Meeting
The Faculty Senate met and took important votes in reaction to the budget challenge here at SJU. The Provost of the University, Brice Wachterhauser Ph.D., was dismissed according to the President of the Faculty Senate, Robert Moore. Wachterhauser served as the head of academic affairs. There was also a vote of no confidence made unanimously with four abstentions for Louis Mayer and John Smithson. Mayer is the Vice President of Financial Affairs. The Faculty senate said that this vote reflected his “failure to responsibly or effectively manage the Office of Financial Affairs, and a loss of confidence in the Office of Financial Affairs across the university.” The vote regarding Smithson, the Senior Vice President of the university, reflected his “failure to provide direct and sound explanations for decision, and provide supporting evidence in the form of credible data.” A vote of no confidence shows that the members of the Saint Joseph’s University faculty no longer have confidence that the aforementioned administrators can preform their jobs adequately. This vote implies a request from the faculty for both Mayer and Smithson to resign. However, the faculty does not have to power to fire them, that authority belongs to the Board if Trustees if they so choose to act on the vote of the Faculty Senate.
3. Thursday February 26th – Board of Trustees Meeting
The board of trustees met for a long-scheduled meeting on Thursday morning at 9:00. Their agenda did not include issues from the Faculty Senate meeting or the Student Senate meeting. However, in light of recent events the board did hear from Student Body President Nick Paolizzi. President Paolozzi read the University Student Senate’s resolution to the board and sources say he did not deviate much from the actual written document. His goal was to let the board know the opinion of the students. Other members of the SJU community including faculty and students staged a protest outside of McShain Hall, where the Board of Trustees meeting was taking place, to make sure their opinions were known. Students posted on Facebook and other social media sites explaining that they wanted to be able to voice their concerns about the financial issues and the increased admission rate for the class of 2018. Around 75-100 Students gathered raising signs reading, “Where’s the Magis?” and “#ListenSJU” among others. The protest began to form at 10:30 and lasted for the remainder of free period (until 12:30). Students did succeed by gaining attention from local news outlets such as ABC6 News, who had a van at the event. The students also promoted the use of the hashtag #ListenSJU. By noon on Thursday the hashtag was trending in Philadelphia.