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Faculty Asks Catholic College's President To Resign

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--An about face from the president of a Maryland catholic university.

He made controversial comments and fired two professors.

Tonight, those professors have their jobs back, but faculty are still calling for the president to step down!

Ava Joye-Burnett has the latest.

The controversy at Mount Saint Mary's University, in Western Maryland, started when the school's newspaper reported that the president wanted to weed out student most likely to fail in an attempt to improve the school's standing.

According to the paper, when one faculty member voiced concern about the plan to target certain students, the president said, "This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can't. You just have to drown the bunnies, put a glock to their heads."

The alleged comments drew outrage on and off campus, but President Simon Newman didn't back down. On Monday, he fired two faculty members, including the advisor to the student newspapers.

"Like I said, it's been a tumultuous week, it's been an emotional week," said Ed Egan.

But Friday, it's a totally different tune. The president announced he would reinstate the two faculty members immediately.

In a statement, the president of the catholic university said the move is an act of reconciliation during the season of lent.

He also went on to say, "And most importantly, eliminate the feelings of fear and injustice that any may be harboring."

For many students, including freshmen from Baltimore, they hope the episode will not taint their school's reputation.

"It was kind of weird to see news cameras and have a lot of spot light on the campus for such a negative reason," said Celia Thomas a freshman at the university.

And for Egan, he too, wants life to go back to normal.

"My father went here, I am a graduate, my sister went here, my wife went here, so that hurt, but I can get over hurt," says Egan.

While some have called for the president to be fired, today the board of the university issued a statement saying they continue to support the president.

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