A supplementary survey was sent out to university faculty by the Saint Louis University chapter of the American Association of University Professors on April 2 as an attempt to provide a direct inquiry into the faculty’s opinion regarding the continued existence of President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. in his role.

The survey consisted of three questions: is it time for Saint Louis University to choose a new president, at which campus do you work, and would you like to make any other comments? It was drafted by AAUP President Steven Harris as a response to the earlier official university-wide climate assessment survey.

The official university survey was prepared by the newly formed Climate Assessment Committee and administered by third-party organization Psychological Associates with the aim of assessing the perceptions of members of the community on the general topics of community, climate and voice.

Members of the faculty and student body responded negatively to the official university survey, claiming that the usage of the broad term “the University” in it’s questions failed to get at the core of the no confidence issue – specifically Biondi’s position as university president.

The Climate Assessment Committee is comprised of faculty, student, staff and administrative representatives and is meant to act as a collaborative body for gauging university-wide opinion. The committee is chaired by Faculty Senate President Mark Knuepfer and Board of Trustees member Pat Sly.

The committee intends to present the findings of their first survey to the Board of Trustees on their May 4 meeting in order to give them pertinent information on the state of the University’s mentality.

“The task force had representation from all constituencies including the presidents of SGA and the SAC [Staff Advisory Council] and the survey that was distributed was the result of that highly collaborative effort,” Ellen Harshman, interim vice president of academic affairs, said.

Harris’ brief survey is an abbreviated rendition of what was originally an eight-question survey.

“I spoke with colleagues… and we said to ourselves, ‘what’s not in the senate climate committee survey… what do we think is important to have the faculty voice articulated,’” Harris said.

According to an April 1 Post-Dispatch article, the AAUP announced on March 27 that it was considering preparing a supplementary survey that would use questions from the University version, but replacing “the University” with “the president.”

This was followed by a warning from William Kauffman, SLU’s general counsel and the secretary to the Board of Trustees, the next day.

“He had sent me a letter advising me that any survey I submitted which is derivative of the University survey would be an infringement on the University’s copyright and could result in legal action to protect that copyright,” Harris said.

He then met with Kauffman on April 1 to show him the questions he intended to ask in the hopes of getting parts of his survey approved for distribution. According to Harris, Kauffman claimed that the only way to avoid the survey being considered a potentially derivative work was to contract an outside firm that has never seen the University survey and let them develop the questions.

The University has made no official statement concerning the supplementary survey, nor the conversation between Harris and Kauffman. However, by Harris’ count the administration has made it clear that they don’t support the AAUP’s efforts.

“I’m pretty sure the administration is against this,” Harris said. “Otherwise the general counsel wouldn’t have gone to such extraordinary lengths to try to stop it…

“One does not anticipate that the University will be in the position of trying to forestall research and dissemination of information…That’s totally in violation of the faculty manual.”

Harris expects to have results back from the supplementary survey well in advance of his AAUP presentation at the  April 30 faculty senate meeting.

John Schuler / Photo Editor
The Indian Student Association performs a flash mob in the quad to promote their Spring Show. The show will be held on April 6.

The Indian Student Association’s Spring Show, slated for Saturday, April 6, hopes to relate to the entire student body with a set of culture-blending performances.

The title of the show is “Paheli: The Mumbaby Snatchers,” which is a theme inspired by the skits interspersed throughout the night’s performances. ISA President Shawn Damodharan said ‘paheli’is the Hindi word for ‘folk-tale mystery,’ and ‘Mumbaby’ is a play-on-words for the city of Mumbai, India.

The skits, which have been in development since December by the show, will tell the comical story of The Mumbaby Snatchers gang.

There will be 11 acts in total, including singing, dancing and comedic acts. Astha, an a cappella will make an appearance, as well as two competitive Indian dance teams and an exhibition performance by Elevation, SLU’s Irish Dance team.

“We like the cultural aspect of [the show],” Damodharan said on why they chose to ask Elevation to perform. “It’s a new type of dance that other people haven’t seen.”

In addition to inviting Elevation, the ISA has attempted to create a more modern and diversified feel to their acts. Damodharan said he felt there was a common misconception about the spring show in that a lot of people think it’s going to be filled with classical Indian dancing.

“To be honest, it’s really not that,” Damodharan said. “It’s a bunch of fusion dances and a bunch of American music mixed with Indian music, there’s a lot of hip-hoppy type moves.”

“I think a lot of people will be surprised if they take the chance and opportunity to come see the show,” Damodharan said.

Organizers decided to move the show to Harris-Stowe State University’s Henry Givens Jr. Auditorium in order to provide more space for people to attend. Historically the spring show was held in Xavier, but ISA is hoping to see upwards of 400 to 500 people.

“Previous year’s attendees always rave about the show because it is one of the biggest productions on campus,” Priya Thumma, an ISA board member, said, “and we have more and more attendees every single year.”

A good number of the performances will simply feature members of the ISA, as opposed to official dance groups. Choreographers and writers alike volunteered their time to develop full routines and train participants.

“Our whole show is pretty much a voluntary basis.” Damodharan said. “I think it’s upwards of 130, 140 people involved.”

Historically, the majority of attendees have been students, and the show is directed toward a younger audience.

“The main reason we really put on these shows are students,” Damodharan said. “We want people to understand Indian culture a little bit better.”

Tickets are being sold for eight dollars throughout the day in the BSC and will be available the day of the show, barring a sell-out.

The 12th Annual Atlas Week looks to more directly inspire students to become active advocates for peace and social justice. The theme, “Advocacy in a Globalized World: From the Classroom to the Frontline,” was inspired by the core goal of Atlas Week to “inspire and inform student activism regarding issues of global injustices,” Atlas Week Director Michelle Lorenzini said.

This year’s keynote address will be delivered by John Prendergast, an international activist who has been working in Africa for over 25 years, both as a federal employee and co-founder of the Enough Project.

Prendergast will spend two days at Saint Louis University as a “visiting Peace Practicitioner,” an unusual practice for a keynote speaker and something that has Atlas Week interns excited.

“I’m really excited to see the John Prendergast events,” Gabriella Biasiotta, internal publicity chair, said. “He has one talk about the 10 ingredients of being an advocate and I think that’s going to be a really interesting talk and really influential to a lot of people on campus.”

Prendergast will host three official lectures, as well as a “Coffee and Conversation” event limited to 30 students. His keynote address will focus on conflict prevention in the Congo and how students can help to bring peace to the violence there.
There will also be a presentation given by SLU graduates who have been working in the middle-east.

“There’s an event that’s going to be put on by the alumni of our public health school… about their time doing public health outreach in a warzone,” Jack Lynn, programming intern, said.

This year’s lineup has added films and interactive demonstration.

One film, “Wolf Call,” looks at the tale of a 14-year-old boy that was murdered in 1956 and how the situation inspired a generation to make social change in the 1950s.

Joe Mayberry will host an interactive demonstration of Russian martial arts.

“He’s going to demonstrate and kind of instruct and have everybody kind of learn about the self defense thing,” Audrey Howard, a member of the webpage and scheduling committee, said.

The Sam and Marilyn Fox Atlas Program was formed as a means of highlighting the international component of SLU.
“The Atlas Program was established in 2001 to recognize the international dimension of Saint Louis University’s academic programs and to celebrate SLU’s role in international education and service in light of our Jesuit tradition,” Lorenzini said.

“Over the course of its evolution, this one-week program has expanded its mission and has become an important program for promoting global civic engagement at SLU.”

Chair of the Department of Theological Studies Jay M. Hammond has announced his resignation from the position of chair.

Hammond submitted his letter of resignation, effective Feb. 28, to Vice President of Academic Affairs Ellen Harshman and Fr. Michael Barber, S.J., dean of Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences, on Feb. 12.

“Since the Board of Trustees has decided to ignore the Faculty Senate’s vote of no confidence in Fr. Biondi, I am unable, in good conscience, to continue my service as an administrator at SLU,” Hammond said in the letter. “I do not have confidence in his leadership, so I must resign because the silent majority perpetuates the illusion of Fr. Biondi’s effective leadership.”

In a statement explaining his resignation, Hammond claimed that he has not personally met a chair with confidence in the leadership of Biondi.

“All [chairs] privately claim that Fr. Biondi is a leader with few followers,” Hammond said, “Mostly within the upper administration, a few other pockets within SLU, and most importantly, the Board.”

Hammond stated that his decision was a response to the Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas Brouster’s letter to the University community on Feb. 11.

The letter outlined six actions necessary to improve and repair university issues surrounding communication and shared governance. It also gave status reports detailing how said actions were being actualized.

“Much progress has been made in moving these initiatives forward and in increasing collaboration among the faculty, students, staff, trustees and administration,” Brouster said in the letter.

Hammond found the letter to be evasive of the larger issue: the vote of no confidence.

“The Board has never acknowledged publicly and stated explicitly that there is a vote of no confidence against in Larry Biondi on the table,” he said. “In my opinion, they’re trying to write the narrative as if the six points have already done all that they’re going to do for Larry Biondi.”

Further, Hammand believes the methodology employed by the board in settling the situation has been inadequate.

“I actually think this would be ended very quickly if people would just get more involved and stop saying that this can be privately brokered by a select few behind closed doors, to where a majority of the SLU community actually does not know what’s going on,” Hammond said.

He also claimed that there was a severe disconnect between the expectations of the board and the expectations of faculty as to what needed to be done to generate meaningful progress.

“Many board members were surprised that Dr. Jane Turner reported that the vote of no confidence in Father Biondi is still a primary concern of the faculty senate,” Hammond said.

Faculty Senate President-elect Jane Turner presented faculty concerns to the Board of Trustees during a meeting on Feb. 9.

According to Hammond’s statements, Brouster was quoted as saying that the faculty discontent “is being spearheaded by a small group of malcontents.”

Hammond argued that this sort of speech before Turner’s presentation did not provide a neutral setting in which board members were prepared to listen.

“Father Biondi was actually in the room,” Hammond said. “They didn’t even have a closed executive session.”

Brouster’s letter touched on the presentation by Turner, which he considered to be a positive interaction.

“While the trustees do not agree with all of the Faculty Senate’s perspectives… there was agreement that ongoing collaboration and intiatives should continue.

“Misunderstanding and misinterpretation are used as the excuses for the lack of shared governance,” Hammond said.

The department of theological studies declined to fill the office of departmental chair in a unanimous vote following Hammond’s presentation to the faculty on Feb. 19. Hammond was not aware of the any planned decision prior to his presentation.

“I think it says that we are in solidarity to speaking truth to power,” Hammond said concerning the decision.

He indicated that he will continue in his capacity as a professor despite his resignation.

SLU adminstrative officials were not available for comment concerning Hammond’s decision before the story went to print.

Inspired by the recent turmoil surrounding Saint Louis University’s administration, faculty and staff, as well as the common appeal to the university mission statement made by various groups at SLU, a collection of professors have started a community blog called The Heithaus Haven. The Haven is a call to the university community to work out what the mission statement really means.

Doubtless, few students spend their walk to and from class asking themselves how they fulfill the SLU mission. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a student who could recite a line.

Yet the mission is meant to define our university and everything that it accomplishes as such. From the university perspective, ideally it informs and participates in every aspect of life as a member of the SLU community.

For this reason faculty members from various departments have come together to open The Heithaus Haven on Blogspot. The idea is largely an outgrowth of the Faculty Senate vote of no confidence in Father Lawrence Biondi S.J., taken last semester. The Haven aims to provide an opportunity for honest conversation about the university’s successes and failures relative to its mission; a conversation that many feel isn’t present in the current university context.

“The inspiration really was a sense of concern that the university community didn’t have a place to really engage seriously the core values of the university,” Ken Parker said, an associate professor of theology and the creator of the project. “We’re particularly concerned about the fact that, while we talk a lot about and seem to do a reasonably good job of projecting those values out into the community… I don’t think we’re doing a very good job of it internally.”

He drew inspiration from Camus, claiming that conflicting parties can only find areas of agreement through honest, transparent and respectful dialogue.

The contributing editors include both those inside and outside the no-confidence movement. The Haven officially launched on Feb. 11, 2013, and has since generated over 2,200 page views as of Feb. 19.

While The Haven found its inspiration in the events surrounding the no-confidence vote, it is meant to function as a place to have a serious conversation about all of us as a university society rather than a place to rally against the administration. In its mission statement, the Haven states that its aim is to foster an open and public “forum for discovery that fosters solidarity across all members of the SLU community through reasoned discourse,” and further to advance SLU in fulfilling its own mission.

Parker hopes that it can function as a place for every person to be heard, including those that find themselves feeling excluded from the larger community.

“I would love to see someone from those organizations that feel marginalized expressing that concern,” Parker said. “And offering observations about how we might be able to remedy that.”

Hal Bush, a contributing editor and professor in the English department, believes that The Haven can exist as a place of serious conversation for people from any faith or even atheists.

“Synthesis is important, along with consensus; which is not impossible either,” Bush said. “Our fervent hope is that, in the end, a solid consensus can be reached that is viable for the vast majority of our community.”

Anyone in the SLU community can submit a piece of writing to The Haven, and the editors have solicited essays from students and invite commentary from members of the administration, as well.

“We’re really eager to have all sectors of the community involved,” Parker said.

Already conversations have begun concerning the illustrious history of the University, with Parker telling the story of Fr. Claude Heithaus, S.J., whose sermon and writings in 1944 helped push SLU to become the first historically-white, southern institution to allow African-Americans to enroll.

An essay by Bush contemplated the increasingly diluted use of the word “glory,” and through examining glory’s connection to the word “shalom,” he attempts to encourage members of the SLU community to find some sort of connection with the people and world about them.

The editors aim to have two important additions to the blog every week and SLU’s mission statement is posted directly on the website for easy access.

Submissions are reviewed by the contributing editors before being posted in order to foster a civil conversation.

Parker was not opposed to expanding the idea of Heithaus Haven to a more formal setting should there be a swell of student support for the project.

In order to commemorate Heithaus and bring attention to his courageous acts, there will be a reenactment of Heithaus’ 1944 homily at 1:00pm on Wednesday in College Church.

“We see this as the beginning of a larger conversation,” Parker said. “What we want is for us to become what we claim to be.”