EMMITSBURG, Md. (WJZ) — The furor at one of America's oldest Catholic universities makes national headlines after the school's controversial president tried to push out poor-performing freshmen, saying they were like bunnies who should be drowned. WJZ has covered the scandal extensively.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren on the top administrator's resignation.
The president simply could not survive waves of bad publicity in the biggest scandal to rock the university in its more than 200 years.
A battle for the soul of America's second-oldest Catholic university, Mount Saint Mary's, ended with the resignation of its controversial president, Simon Newman, a finance executive the school's board recruited last year.
Newman drew nationwide outrage after the student newspaper reported his plan to get rid of struggling freshmen.
He 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."
RELATED: Faculty Asks Catholic College's President To Resign
"The really shameful thing were these comments that were made about students and this really disgusting plan," said Dr. John Schwenkler, former Mount faculty member.
Dr. Schwenkler's online petition against Newman's actions garnered more than 8,000 signatures.
"Those things are just a shocking breach of trust," he said.
Schwenkler strongly objected to Newman's firing two professors, including the newspaper's advisor, who was later reinstated.
"Weeding out students because we think they might not do well in order to make the numbers look better--that's not Mount Saint Mary's," said newspaper advisor Edward Egan.
The board named Dr. Karl Einolf the acting president. He's the dean of the School of Business and a John's Hopkins alum.
"What the university needs is a leader who doesn't take a corporate mentality to higher education," said Schwenkler.
RELATED: Student Poll Said To Show Support For Mount St. Mary University President
"We, the deans and department chairs of Mount St. Mary's University, express our thanks to Simon Newman for his work on our behalf and wish him well in his future endeavors. We also express our gratitude to the Board of Trustees for their leadership. We look forward to working closely with Acting President Karl Einolf in the coming months."
In his resignation, he said: "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."
"And I hope it's a message that the scholarly community won't stand for certain kinds of things," said Schwenkler.
Among the strong reaction on the school's Facebook page, one commenter called it: "Sad, pitiful and pathetic leadership" by the board.
Another said: "[Newman] is a businessman, not an educator."
Some said the resignation is: "Good news."
While the school tries to move on, the commission that accredits it wants a full report on the controversy. That's due later this month.
There is no word yet on Newman's future plans.
Strong Opinions Voiced After Mount St. Mary's President Resigns
/ CBS Baltimore
EMMITSBURG, Md. (WJZ) — The furor at one of America's oldest Catholic universities makes national headlines after the school's controversial president tried to push out poor-performing freshmen, saying they were like bunnies who should be drowned. WJZ has covered the scandal extensively.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren on the top administrator's resignation.
The president simply could not survive waves of bad publicity in the biggest scandal to rock the university in its more than 200 years.
A battle for the soul of America's second-oldest Catholic university, Mount Saint Mary's, ended with the resignation of its controversial president, Simon Newman, a finance executive the school's board recruited last year.
Newman drew nationwide outrage after the student newspaper reported his plan to get rid of struggling freshmen.
He 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."
RELATED: Faculty Asks Catholic College's President To Resign
"The really shameful thing were these comments that were made about students and this really disgusting plan," said Dr. John Schwenkler, former Mount faculty member.
Dr. Schwenkler's online petition against Newman's actions garnered more than 8,000 signatures.
"Those things are just a shocking breach of trust," he said.
Schwenkler strongly objected to Newman's firing two professors, including the newspaper's advisor, who was later reinstated.
"Weeding out students because we think they might not do well in order to make the numbers look better--that's not Mount Saint Mary's," said newspaper advisor Edward Egan.
The board named Dr. Karl Einolf the acting president. He's the dean of the School of Business and a John's Hopkins alum.
"What the university needs is a leader who doesn't take a corporate mentality to higher education," said Schwenkler.
RELATED: Student Poll Said To Show Support For Mount St. Mary University President
"We, the deans and department chairs of Mount St. Mary's University, express our thanks to Simon Newman for his work on our behalf and wish him well in his future endeavors. We also express our gratitude to the Board of Trustees for their leadership. We look forward to working closely with Acting President Karl Einolf in the coming months."
In his resignation, he said: "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."
"And I hope it's a message that the scholarly community won't stand for certain kinds of things," said Schwenkler.
Among the strong reaction on the school's Facebook page, one commenter called it: "Sad, pitiful and pathetic leadership" by the board.
Another said: "[Newman] is a businessman, not an educator."
Some said the resignation is: "Good news."
While the school tries to move on, the commission that accredits it wants a full report on the controversy. That's due later this month.
There is no word yet on Newman's future plans.
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