Barnard AAUP Members Vote of No Confidence in President Laura Rosenbury
On Monday, April 22, 2024, the Barnard College members of the American Association of University Professors voted 102-0 that they did not have confidence in President Laura Rosenbury’s ability to serve as President of Barnard College.
We do not take lightly the prospect of subjecting our president to a vote of no confidence, particularly given that two high-profile women presidents have already lost their jobs in recent months. But we have come to the regrettable conclusion that the current situation is no longer sustainable. President Rosenbury’s administration has done damage to the College at virtually every level of responsibility.
1) Lack of care for students. The administration has treated students arbitrarily and in an unfair manner in both the deployment of new policies, such as the demonstration policy and the policy with regard to dorm room doors, and in the enforcement of those policies. Student “incidents” have been recorded without informing the students or giving them the chance of appeal or hearing. The current disciplinary processes and interim suspensions do not provide fair hearings for students, but instead punish the students in extraordinary ways in advance of the hearings and use the hearings as the basis for further punishment even when they were administratively resolved and supposedly not recorded. [See attached FAQ: Treatment of Students for documentation of lack of care for students]
2) Ignoring shared governance, including implementing the policy on demonstrations over the direct objection of the faculty in faculty meeting and the subsequent enforcement of that policy against our students in an arbitrary and chaotic manner. [See attached AAUP: Why Now? for documentation of undermined shared governance].
3) Repeated violations of academic freedom and free expression, including ignoring the faculty vote on the Chicago Principles, failing to constitute the promised new committee on free expression, and changing policies to create prior restraint on academic freedom and free expression, including the new policy on political activity and websites, removing longstanding material from the doors of staff members, and new policies on hosting events on campus. [See attached AAUP: Why Now? for documentation of undermined academic freedom and free expression].
4) Administrative chaos at every level of the college. The basic functioning of the College has been undermined and basic tasks have become increasingly difficult to undertake. Central positions crucial in this time of crisis remain unfilled, including that of General Counsel and VP for Communications. A new budget process has been announced, but its implementation is unclear. Staff members have resigned because the demands placed on them are unreasonable and unsustainable.
5) Undermining the longstanding and cherished culture of Barnard College. President Rosenbury’s leadership style is punitive, divisive, and non-consultative. While she arrived at the college ten months ago, she has created no ties or relationships with faculty or students. She makes critical decisions with no consultation with faculty, students, staff. Her punitive and rule-bound management approach has driven a wedge between the administration on the one hand and students and faculty on the other. She has demonstrated no understanding of the College’s culture and community and no respect for our values. Under her leadership in the last ten months, relationships have frayed, trust has fractured, and our campus has become virtually unrecognizable.
There is no doubt that we are living in a difficult moment as a result of a global conflict to which many people have personal connections and about which they feel deeply. Yet the divisiveness on campus is not just a function of the politics. The president’s arbitrary policies and punitive actions have inflamed the situation. Rather than steering the college through rough seas, she has become an agent of chaos.
President Rosenbury is not the leader we need right now. The faculty, staff, and students of Barnard College deserve better.