The LSU Faculty Senate voted 39-5 in favor of the censure of LSU President F. King Alexander, Human Sciences and Education Dean Damon Andrew and former Provost Stuart Bell at its monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The symbolic measure is “one step short of a vote of no confidence,” Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope previously told The Daily Reveille.
The Daily Reveille previously reported Faculty Senate’s decision to postpone the vote at its last meeting Sept. 2. Between then and yesterday’s meeting, the Senate created an internal subcommittee to investigate the case in greater depth.
The committee compiled a timeline of Alleged Administrative Violations regarding education professor Teresa Buchanan’s firing from the university in June 2015, beginning with complaints made in the 2011-12 academic year.
Buchanan’s most notable complaints involving her classroom demeanor occurred from 2011-12, though she claimed she was under severe emotional distress. Andrew’s first formal notice of her unsatisfactory performance was issued in December 2013, and her promotion was denied by Alexander and Bell in January 2014.
The subcommittee recommended Buchanan be re-hired, but censured in writing for her inappropriate classroom behavior. The subcommittee also concluded she should be required to agree in writing to cease such behavior.
According to the subcommittee’s findings, the verbal offenses, which violated sexual harassment policies PS-73 and PS-95, created a “hostile learning environment.”
However, the subcommittee also found LSU’s response to the situation flawed.
“There needs to be mechanisms for the advocacy of faculty at all administrative levels early in the process prior to [Human Resource Management] involvement,” the report stated.
LSU released a statement following the meeting disagreeing with the Faculty Senate’s vote to censure the three administrators. It reaffirmed LSU’s support of Alexander, Bell and Andrew and defended students’ civil rights.
“Being deliberately indifferent to hostile learning environments is not only damaging to our students but undermines the educational values and principles that higher education represents,” LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said in the statement.
Student Senate released a similar resolution Monday thanking Alexander for his “passionate leadership of the University, always striving to do what is best in the interest of the student body.”
Subcommittee member Lillian Bridwell-Bowles said the subcommittee was tasked with examining the allegedly violated policies and procedures of the case.
“The policies and procedures in the case were murky, and every faculty member should be concerned,” Bowles said.
Buchanan’s alleged sexual harassment policy violations drew special attention from faculty senators who raised concerns that her violations were being taken too lightly.
An amendment was consequently passed to strike a line from Resolution 15-15 that stated the administrative standard was “absurd in its apparent connection to sexual harassment.”
In regard to Buchanan’s alleged regular use of foul language in the classroom, political science professor and Resolution 15-15 author Cecil Eubanks said freedom of speech trumps hurt feelings, and the accusations present a double-standard for other areas of campus life.
“I think [Buchanan’s] language is language you hear in administrative offices … and likely at athletic events,” Eubanks said.
Additional concerns addressed at the meeting involved Andrew’s and Alexander’s lack of explanation to Buchanan about the specific federal charges against her. This did not allow her to prepare a proper defense for her case, subcommittee member Pamela Monroe said.
“A person has the right to know what the charges are,” Bowles said.
To maintain privacy, votes were conducted on paper ballots and calculated at the end of the meeting. Bowles said the subcommittee’s resolution was a reference point for the senators voting on the censure measure.
“We took comfort in the fact we weren’t re-trying this case,” Bowles said. “We hope we’ll find answers in a court of law.”
Faculty Senate votes to censure administration in Buchanan case
October 6, 2015
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