Eastern Michigan University faculty have passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in the Board of Regents.
Eastern Michigan University's Faculty Senate says the Board of Regents (BOR) has violated the school's code of ethics by continuing a partnership with the Education Achievement Authority (EAA).
In 2014, the BOR said they would withdraw from the controversial district if a faculty review found the EAA had not improved over the course of the next year.
When that review concluded last December, faculty said it revealed the EAA had made no progress. At a public meeting, EMU's Board of Regents choose to postpone a vote on the partnership, effectively continuing the school’s involvement with the Detroit district indefinitely.
This is the first time in EMU history that faculty have voted no confidence in the BOR. Geoff Larcom, a spokesman for EMU, made the following statement,
“The university strongly supports the right of faculty members to speak out about issues of concern to them.”
Judith Kullberg is President of the Faculty Senate. She told WEMU earlier this week that EMU faculty feel that the Board is acting against the best interests of the university.
Kuhlberg says,
"The Board of Regents has a responsibility to consider the interests of all constituents in decision making. We don’t really see any evidence of that. They’ve consistently refused to listen to what all the stakeholders have to say about the EAA involvement.”
On February 17, the Faculty Senate will vote on a censure of Regents Mike Morris and Mary Treder Lang. Faculty members say Morris and Treder Lang have committed further ethics violations by serving on both the EAA’s Board of Directors and EMU’s Board of Regents.
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— Amanda LeClaire is an assignment reporter and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact her at 734.487.3363 or email her aleclair@emich.edu
