The LSU Faculty Senate debated the censure of LSU President F. King Alexander at its Wednesday meeting, following professor Teresa Buchanan’s controversial firing in June. The measure, which also aimed to censure former Provost Stuart Bell and College of Human Sciences and Education Dean Damon Andrew, was postponed for decisive voting until the Senate’s next meeting.
According to the American Association of University Professors’ website, censure is defined as informing the academic community that the “administration of an institution has not adhered to generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure.”
“It’s one step short of a vote of no confidence,” said Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope.
The ruling was entirely symbolic, according to an LSU news release.
The Faculty Senate voted to create an internal committee to search for concrete evidence of administrative foul play in the firing.
The AAUP released a supplementary report Wednesday morning unfavorable to LSU administrators. It focused on three issues: the administration’s impulse to suspend Buchanan, the investigation by the Office of Human Resource Management and basic First Amendment rights regarding freedom of speech.
Alexander dismissed the AAUP’s accusations and said media reports stating Buchanan was fired for “salty language” misinterpreted the facts of the case.
He said Buchanan sexually harassed students verbally.
“The number of student complaints about this faculty member’s abuse likely would have been even higher had there not been fear by students that reporting the faculty member would lead to retribution,” Alexander said.
Buchanan was fired in June after the LSU Board of Supervisors deemed her classroom behavior inappropriate.
According to the AAUP report, Buchanan was, by all accounts, a model scholar and professor. She studied “developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education,” publishing a total of 24 articles in reputable journals and creating a new teacher education program spanning from kindergarten through third grade.
In spring 2013, Buchanan, then an associate professor, applied for a full professorship that would go into effect at the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, the AAUP reported.
In December 2013, Buchanan received an email from Andrew with the subject line “Unacceptable Performance,” according to the report.
The concerns voiced in the email were related to an incident in which a school superintendent asked Buchanan to not return to several elementary schools in his district because of her derogatory manner, according to a written statement from LSU Media Relations director Ernie Ballard.
Andrew also made further accusations in the email of inappropriate statements Buchanan allegedly made in the classroom that made students feel uncomfortable.
Andrew immediately removed Buchanan from her teaching role for the spring 2014 semester. HRM consequently launched an investigation into Buchanan’s alleged violations of LSU’s sexual harassment policy and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On June 19, Buchanan was effectively fired from LSU.
LSU general counsel Thomas Skinner expressed his disapproval of the AAUP report.
“The reported facts are wrong, the statement ignores and misinterprets federal and state law, it fails to follow the AAUP’s own statement of principles, and in the report, the AAUP ignores the interests and well-being of students,” Skinner said in a letter to the AAUP.
Alexander pointed out that a university that is deliberately indifferent toward sexual harassment may be subject to loss of federal funds and may be liable for money damages under Title IX or the Civil Rights Act.
The censure resolution was brought up at the meeting at the request of LSU professors Cecil Eubanks, James Garand, Robert Hogan and Pamela Monroe. Fifteen faculty members co- sponsored the proposal.
Supporters of Buchanan brought up the fact that the ADA allegations were dropped because they were found to be unsubstantiated. They also questioned if due process was actually granted because issues were never brought to Buchanan’s immediate supervisor.
Associate chair for instruction professor Charles Delzell was the and faculty senator who suggested forming a committee to review the administration’s protocol with the case.
“I think [Alexander] deserves no more due process than Buchanan got,” Delzell said.
The Faculty Senate is set to discuss the committee’s findings and decide whether to pass the faculty-drafted resolution at their next meeting in a month.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Zoe Geauthreaux

LSU president F. King Alexander takes the podium on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, during the Faculty Senate meeting in Barnes and Noble.