Moments after AU's Board of Trustees announced their decision to remove President Benjamin Ladner following Monday's nine-hour meeting, students expressed emotions ranging from happiness at Ladner's dismissal to anger over the terms of his possible severance package and at the board for allowing the controversy to happen in the first place.
When board member and acting Chair Thomas A. Gottschalk made the official announcement at a press conference Monday evening, students in the back of the room began to cheer. Gottschalk also announced that acting President Neil Kerwin would continue in that position until a replacement for Ladner was found.
Ladner, who was placed on administrative leave in August following an investigation into his personal and travel expenses, was not present at the press conference.
"I'm pleased with the decision to remove President Ladner," Student Government President Kyle Taylor said in a statement to the press. Taylor said that AU students were all looking forward to a "return to ethical standards."
Other students balked at the idea that Ladner might receive a severance package and become a tenured professor if dismissed. When the board announced that the decision regarding Ladner's severance package and tenure would be private because it was a legal issue, the students let loose a series of audible boos, abruptly interrupting Gottschalk, who stopped short and faltered momentarily.
Emily Venturato, a sophomore in the School of International Service, called the possibility of Ladner becoming a tenured professor "ridiculous." As a stipulation of his 1997 contract, Ladner would remain a tenured professor in the event of his removal as president, with a salary 20 percent higher than that of the next highest paid professor.
"He should be fired and not welcome back here," Venturato said.
Venturato said the fact that Ladner was allowed to oversee his own contract was "pathetic" on the part of the university.
"He's an ethics professor. The irony is striking," she said. "For a school that prides itself on turning out ethical and moral leaders, it is really appalling."
Chris Sgro, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said he was hopeful about the board's promise to create subcommittees involved with the search for a new president, a restructuring of the board of trustees and improvements in the governance of the university. He said he wants to make sure that Ladner is not rewarded for his actions.
"We absolutely have to keep on top of these subcommittees so that he does not get any severance package," he said.
In spite of the controversy surrounding Ladner and AU, Sgro said that he had "full faith" in Kerwin to run the university and take it into the future.
But some students criticized the board of trustees for not including students in the decision-making process and demanded increased student participation in decisions affecting the university.
"The lack of transparency is what got them into trouble in the first place," Sunny Petzinger, a sophomore in SIS, said. "The fact that this meeting wasn't made public to the students is one more example that the board is not willing to cooperate with students and are not interested in their input in these affairs."
Petzinger said that transparency is essential in operating the university, and expressed hope that students would be able to hold a couple of seats on the board in order to have more input in decisions. She also suggested that the new president adopt an attitude similar to that of popular former President Richard Berendzen over that of Ladner by being more visible and open to students.
"Ladner never went out of his way to seek a cordial relationship with students, so they're just as quick to fry him," she said.
Adam Mills-Campisi, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, suggested that the Board of Trustees make an equally concerted effort to be visible and accessible to students.
"If the Board of Trustees are not taking an active interest in the student body, they shouldn't be members of the Board of Trustees," he said. "They are entrusted with the fate of AU. If they don't know what we think or what we want, how can they make good decisions"
