The faculty have voted that they have no confidence in Sr. Anne Munley, IHM, Ph.D., president of Marywood, and in Mr. Joseph X. Garvey, vice president of business affairs and treasurer.

According to Dr. Craig Johnson, mathematics professor and Faculty Senate president, the vote took place online between Tuesday, Oct. 6, and Thursday Oct. 8.

The results of the vote showed that 71 percent of the faculty who voted said they have no confidence in Sr. Anne as president. Similarly, 88 percent of faculty who voted had no confidence in Garvey.

Johnson said that 135 faculty members signed on to the secure website that was set up to administer the vote. Those eligible to vote included the 182 full-time and pro-rata faculty members employed at Marywood.

After Johnson received the results of the vote, he and Dr. David Palmiter, psychology and counseling professor, and Faculty Senate vice president, held a conference call with Ann R. Henry, Ph.D., chair of the board of trustees, and Msgr. David L. Tressler, board of trustees member. Henry and Tressler are also members of the board’s task force on shared governance.

Johnson and Palmiter also sent the results to every board member for whom they had contact information. Johnson asked that the board respond within 10 days.

“We were giving them 10 days to act before we released the results to the faculty,” Johnson said.

In response, on Monday, Oct. 19, Henry sent a letter to faculty and staff that contained the board’s official response to the faculty’s recent vote.

The statement addressed the “differing points of view” that have come to light over the past few months on campus, but ultimately said that the board disagreed with faculty’s “dissatisfaction with our administrative leadership.”

“Although we disagree, and are unanimous and steadfast in our support for our President, Sister Anne Munley IHM, and our VP for Business Affairs/Treasurer, Joseph Garvey, we do agree that some issues our faculty have raised warrant frank and meaningful dialogue,” the statement said.

The statement came exactly 10 days after the vote concluded.

Johnson said Faculty Senate will hold a meeting this Friday, and he urged all faculty to attend so that they might have the opportunity to express their feelings about the response from the board.

In Johnson’s email to faculty, which he shared with The Wood Word, he also said that the board had formed a shared governance committee that would be comprised of “equal numbers of trustees and faculty,” with board member Richard Kane acting as committee chair.

“[We are] very disappointed but [we] need to give credit where credit is due,” Johnson said. He said he believes the formation of the committee is a positive step moving forward, although he is disappointed with the board’s response to the votes.

“I was very disappointed in large part because of the very high percentages in the vote,” Johnson said. “I thought the faculty spoke very clearly.”

Sr. Anne Munley and Mr. Joseph Garvey could not be reached for comment.

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