This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 16, 2013 - The Rev. Lawrence Biondi, who had announced he would be leaving the presidency of Saint Louis University after faculty and student votes of no-confidence in his leadership, will retire Sept. 1 to become president emeritus, the head of the university’s board of trustees said Friday.
In a letter to faculty, staff and students, J. Joe Adorjan said that as of Sept. 1, Biondi will take “a much-deserved one-year sabbatical.” During that time, Adorjan said, Biondi “will continue his activities in building national and international support for Saint Louis University, but will have no day-to-day responsibilities for leadership of the university. Upon his return, we will mutually agree upon a university role and title for Father so that we can continue to benefit from his considerable university experience."
Bill Kauffman, the SLU’s vice president and general counsel, has been named interim president. “He has agreed to serve in this position for this fiscal year,” Adorjan’s letter said, “or until such time as a successor is in place, but will not be a candidate for the presidency as the search begins.”
Adorjan noted that with 18 years of service, Kauffman is the university’s longest serving vice president.
In a news release from the university, Biondi said:
“Over the summer I decided that the time is right for me to retire. While I will miss the mission, work and activity of the University, I am also looking forward to new challenges that lie ahead for me. I leave SLU in a very strong position, and I look forward to continuing to provide input to the Board as it searches for my permanent successor.”
The search process for Biondi’s permanent successor is expected to begin in earnest after the SLU trustees meet on Sept. 28. “I am confident that we will find the best possible person to be the next president of SLU,” Adorjan wrote, “and I want that process to be as inclusive as possible.”
Under revised bylaws of the university, the president of SLU does not have to be a Jesuit, and Adorjan has said that being a Jesuit is not a necessary condition to get the job.
Switch on need for interim president
In July, responding to the call by a faculty member for Biondi to step aside in favor of an interim president while a permanent successor was sought, Adorjan said he did not think appointing an interim was necessary.
“There have been no discussions on the board about an interim president,” he told the Beacon last month. "I don’t believe we’re going to do that. That’s my personal view. I don’t think an interim is appropriate. We have a board meeting in September and an executive committee meeting in September, and I’ll have a better sense at that time whether people are thinking that way."
To support Kauffman, five senior administrators will form an Office of the Chairman -- Ellen Harshman, Philip Alderson, David Heimburger, Bridget Fletcher and Kent Porterfield. "I believe this partnership will ensure the smoothest possible transition and collaboration," Adorjan wrote.
In the news release, Kauffman said of his new role:
“I am honored to have been appointed as interim president, and my top priority will be to put SLU in as strong a position as possible for our next president. I am committed to working with stakeholders inside and outside of the University to keep us moving in a very positive direction.”
Kauffman himself had tangled with faculty members who had been leading the opposition to Biondi. When the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors announced plans to distribute a supplemental survey to one that had been sent out by the university, seeking opinions about Biondi's leadership and policies, Kauffman threatened legal action, saying that the survey would infringe on the university's copyright on its own survey.
The national head of the AAUP called the move "remarkable, incomprehensible and almost bordering on unconscionable." In the end, the SLU chapter decided to send out just a one-question query, asking a response to the statement: “Is it time for Saint Louis University to choose a new president?”
Nearly three-fourths of the faculty members responding said yes.
Search process moves forward
Adorjan said in a posting on the university's website Thursday that Kauffman and Harshman have been working "to study and to develop a 'white paper' on best practices for presidential searches." He also said several national search firms have been invited to submit proposals to take part in the process.
"I have already received significant input from my fellow trustees and many others about the search," Adorjan wrote. "We have also taken the opportunity to talk with some experts in presidential searches about how our search process can be most successful, and have included the leaders of campus stakeholder groups in some of these meetings."
Biondi, who became president of SLU in 1987, came under fire last year for a variety of reasons, including a proposal – later withdrawn – that tenure rules at the university be revised. After protracted protests by students and faculty, he announced in May that he had asked the board to start searching for his successor, but no date was set for him to step down.
Since that time, the controversy between the president and those seeking his ouster has not died down. The American Association of University Professors lodged a protest this summer that Biondi appeared to be targeting his detractors by granting them smaller raises than those that were recommended by their more direct supervisors.
Biondi has denied the allegation. He said in a recent op-ed piece in the Post-Dispatch that “these recent complaints continue the saga of behavior from a small number of dissident faculty members, who obviously lack the stark reality that their profession, like any other, requires them to be accountable. The past year’s turmoil from these complainers has been self-inflicted, self-absorbed and self-serving, and not in the best interest of our students’ hopes and dreams.”
He concluded:
"Enough of the drama!
"Enough of the theater!
"It is time to remember that we are all guided by a higher purpose at Saint Louis University. It is time to return to our respective responsibilities as students, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees for the greater good of our students and health care patients."
Reacting to the news of Biondi's retirement, Steve Harris, a math professor who heads the SLU chapter of the AAUP, said in an email:
"Janus-faced, I look forward and back.
"Looking back, I see a University grown immensely greater from where it was when I came here, over 20 years ago; my gratitude is to Father Biondi for vision and leadership in bringing us along this path.
"Looking forward, I see a University of even greater promise, with a faculty energized to aid in partnership with a new president.
"The Board of Trustees has seen what's necessary to move us along at a proper pace in this period of transition. We are now in a position to transition fully, over the course of a year or less, to a university where shared governance is the norm and not just a platitude; where dignity of the individual and the search for truth are honored in all interactions, internal and external; and where a new face of the University can look afresh at our mix of emphasis on academics and infrastructure.
"Bill Kauffman is an able hand at everything legal concerning the University; he is aided by a highly knowledgeable team of VPs who, among them, have some of the University's most respected names and ablest leadership. This is a good fresh start for the University."
Economics professor Bonnie Wilson, who was active in protests against Biondi's leadership, had this reaction:
"Transformative work must now begin -- work that will ensure SLU lives out its Jesuit, Catholic mission in its own internal norms, structures, and practices. We must write new rules and find new ways of proceeding. That will be difficult and challenging work. But we are up to the task -- with a newly energized faculty, a newly inspired student body, outstanding staff, a new and capable leadership team in the interim president and VPs, and, I hope, a board that is ready and willing to engage the campus community."
Earlier Friday, Biondi took part in dedication ceremonies for the new SLU law school buildingdowntown, but there was no hint that his retirement date had been set or he was going on sabbatical.
In his letter, Adorjan said Kauffman did not seek the interim presidency, "but he knows how important this next year will be, and I thank him for agreeing to take the interim president position and the responsibilities that come with it....
"The board has the utmost confidence in the leadership team at SLU, including the vice presidents, deans of the colleges and schools, and the management team at SLUCare. What is most important during this transition is that we continue to provide the very best possible experience for our students and patients. I know that each of you will help in that effort."