This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Even though the Rev. Lawrence Biondi has asked the Saint Louis University board of trustees to begin looking for his successor, he still inspires a mixed reaction – praise for what he has accomplished but also a wariness about the harm he could still do to those who have challenged his administration.
Some faculty members, like Ted Vitali, a Passionist priest who chairs SLU’s philosophy department, told the Beacon that since the particulars of the recent campus turmoil are so well known, he wanted to focus on the good things that people will remember. He told the Beacon that in the future, Biondi’s legacy will be more positive than negative, in terms of economics, academics and the physical state of the campus.
He noted that after what he called the “golden age of Jesuit universities,” from the 1940s through the ‘60s, the segment fell on harder times. Biondi’s predecessor, the Rev. Thomas Fitzgerald, helped put SLU on a sounder financial footing, but Biondi raised the endowment, transformed the campus “from a rundown urban university to a really gloriously beautiful one” and did a similar job on its academic departments.
“There are some serious issues,” Vitali said, “but overall, most of the departments and most of the colleges are exponentially better than they have been in 50 years.”
But some of Vitali’s faculty colleagues who were willing to talk to the Beacon in general terms about Biondi often did not want to get more specific, fearing what he could do to them in the time he remains as head of the school.
Biondi himself did not respond to several requests for an interview with the Beacon, to give him the opportunity to respond to issues like those that arose from a Faculty Senate task force that was released in April. It listed, point by point, defects of the Biondi administration, ranging from a slide in national rankings to the increasing costs for students to the lack of a stable, healthy administrative or academic culture.
Even with the announcement of his resignation, the relationship between Biondi and faculty members remains strained, if his appearance at a Faculty Senate meeting on May 21 is any indication. Those who attended – reporters were barred – say Biondi sat with his arms folded and did not say anything during a question-and-answer period. One professor said he seemed to be radiating a simmering sense of anger.
As Biondi’s tenure winds down, says Ken Parker, a professor of theological studies, people still will be cautious – and wary.
“Top administrators immediately under Larry recognize that faculty need to be protected from Larry,” he said, “and quite honestly that Larry needs to be protected from himself, from making bad decisions.”
Political science professor Tim Lomperis put it more bluntly. Asked whether he thought Biondi had a hit list, he replied:
“I don’t think he has a specific hit list. I think anybody who gets in his way, he hits.”
On the list
Some members of the SLU community, faculty and staff alike, have been hit already, though they don’t always want to come forward and be identified by name.
The Faculty Senate task force report told of one member of the development staff, responsible for raising money, who “reported being threatened by the president, who said to the staffer: ‘If you don’t bring more money into this university I will make sure you don’t have enough money to buy Christmas presents for your kids.’”
Steve Harris, a professor in the math and computer science department at SLU, felt that kind of target on his back earlier this year.
Head of the newly regenerated campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, he wanted to survey faculty members about Biondi’s leadership because he felt a survey of the campus climate sanctioned by SLU's board of trustees did not address the issue of the president directly enough.
But his idea ran afoul of the SLU administration. William Kauffman, the university’s general counsel, sent Harris a letter threatening a copyright infringement lawsuit against Harris if he went ahead with his supplemental survey and said Harris could be liable for monetary damages.
Harris said lawyers advised him the threat would not hold up in court, but that wouldn’t necessarily stop SLU from filing suit and putting him on the hook for legal fees. In the end, he decided to ask just one question: “Is it time for Saint Louis University to choose a new president?” The response was a resounding yes, with nearly three out of every four professorswho took part coming out against Biondi’s continued tenure.
Even now, Harris told the Beacon, people on campus are afraid to speak out against the administration.
“There are many people who are reasonably, I think, fearful of retaliation,” he said. “You might say it’s too late, but it’s not too late. The president is going to be president for possibly another year, and there is definitely the possibility of retaliation in all sorts of forms."
Another professor who felt the wrath of the Biondi administration – and did end up with a six-figure legal bill – was Avis Meyer, a professor in the SLU department of communication and former advisor to the student newspaper, The University News.
(Full disclosure: Meyer and I once were colleagues at the Post-Dispatch.)
Biondi’s unhappiness with the reporting and opinions in the U. News was expressed in many ways, Meyer told the Beacon, including the rewriting of the newspaper charter to give the administration more control over what had been a student-run operation.
Hoping to preserve the newspaper’s independence, Meyer shelled out $25 to register the name University News, then gave it to students. He later released the name back into the public domain but was sued by SLU in 2006 for copyright infringement and had to pay legal fees as the case dragged on for more than two years.
The case was eventually settled, but meanwhile Meyer was barred from serving as the official U. News faculty adviser. Undaunted, he continues to help out the students by parking his car in a campus lot every Wednesday night, as the paper goes to bed, to look at rough drafts of the upcoming issue and give suggestions.
A couple of years after the fact, Meyer says, he found out another reason for the timing of the administration’s actions against him.
Meyer’s son had died on June 12, 2006. Phil Lyons, an administrator at SLU at the time, told the Beacon that Biondi’s office had told him to inform Meyer that he would no longer be serving as the newspaper’s faculty adviser – and that Meyer should be told on the day of his son’s funeral.
Lyons, who now holds a similar position at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, says he asked whether the news could be put off for a little while, but the response came back from Biondi’s office that the notification had to come on the same day as the funeral.
That edict, Lyons said, was typical of how Biondi operated – and of the situation that evolved, where cooler heads who might have prevailed often weren’t around to give advice.
“He was like a pit bull,” he said. “Once he got his jaw around something, there was absolutely nothing that would change his mind ….
“There were people he surrounded himself with when I was there that would say, ‘Wait a minute, Larry.’ They would double check his actions on things. You could talk him out of things when things were a little crazy. I don’t know if those people are there anymore.”
The sad part, Lyons added, was that when Biondi wanted to, he could be very motivating.
“It looks to me there was just a general lack of anyone in the administration to be able to communicate,” he said. “It’s really too bad, because he also could make you feel like you were walking on air. Just a few kind words from him, because they didn’t come very often, you could live on that for six months.”
Biondi’s legacy
So when people talk in 15 of 20 years about the Biondi era at Saint Louis University, what will stand out: the way he beautified the campus physically or the way his tenure ended?
Former Mayor Vincent Schoemehl, who saw his share of criticism during his years at City Hall, said that as time passes, the furor of the past year will die down and the accomplishments of the Biondi years will stand out.
And he’s sorry that Biondi’s presidency had to end sooner than he thinks it should.
“As the clock starts to tick on you, you just narrow in on what you have to get done," said Schoemehl, who has worked closely with Biondi in his current job as head of Grand Center. "You increasingly diminish your capacity to listen to every voice when time becomes a more precious commodity. He’s ready to turn 75. He’s got some big projects still left undone.
“I’ll say this in general: It’s kind of the curse of the visionary that they don’t necessarily count the things they accomplished, but they keep a close tally of the things that they left undone. Anybody who doesn’t think Biondi was a visionary just doesn’t know the man.”
Would he want to work with Biondi once his days at SLU are done?
“Absolutely. This guy is a superior talent. He has great insight into how this community works. He has probably the best Rolodex in St. Louis, in terms of who can get things done and who the right person is to call to get things done. If he leaves St. Louis, we lose a really, really useful civic asset.”
Harris feels pretty confident that the circumstances under which Biondi is leaving will be a clear signal to whoever takes his place, in terms of the best way to conduct the presidency at SLU.
“A new president is coming in to take over the reins and will know all about what has just happened,” he said. “I can’t imagine anyone being willing to take this office without saying, wow I’m not going to make those mistakes. I’ve very optimistic that whoever we get is someone we can play ball with to some degree or another.”
And Vitali, who has counted Biondi as a friend and was clearly torn as he served on the executive committee of the Faculty Senate that voted no confidence in him, wants to make sure that no one sees the stormy end of the president’s tenure as a case of winners and losers.
“This is a tragedy,” he said. “There are no victories here. I don’t want to see it become a complete tragedy, which would be a Biondi disgrace. I want to see him retire with honor and dignity. He earned that right, and I think the university owes that to him.
“I’m sure he’s hurt. I bet he feels betrayed by many of us. I bet he feels betrayed on all sides. What everybody in this world wants is a noble ending to a noble career. Universities are based on two things – great faculty and great students. We have both. We’re going to be fine.”
Read part one: Biondi's legacy: Good with buildings, not so good with people
Timeline
1987
Lawrence Biondi, S.J., becomes the 31st president of Saint Louis University. His first day in the office is Aug. 10, 1987. His official inauguration takes place Sept. 30, 1987, at Powell Symphony Hall.
1988
Two 22-foot entrance markers bearing the SLU logo appear on the corners of Grand Boulevard and Laclede Avenue.
1990
The University acquires two buildings as a permanent home for SLU in Madrid, Spain. The facilities are renovated to include classrooms, laboratories, offices and a library.
St. Francis Xavier College Church begins a complete interior renovation.
1991
School of public health established as just one of 27 such schools in the nation. Today, it’s still the only one at a Jesuit university.
1993
The construction closes city streets to cars, creating a more pedestrian-friendly campus.
1994
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement Teaching upgrades SLU’s status as a “major research university.” Only six other Catholic universities enjoy this status today.
1995
SLUCare, the physician practice of Saint Louis University, is formed. The group offers a single provider organization to the community.
1997
McDonnell Douglas Hall, home to Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, opens its doors in St. Louis. Its construction allows for the move of Parks from Cahokia, Ill., to the St. Louis campus.
1998
The Saint Louis University Hospital is sold to Tenet Healthcare Corp.
2000
The health law program in the School of Law is ranked first in the nation by U.S.News and World Report. The program has held the top ranking ever since.
2005
Biondi is named St. Louis’ “Citizen of the Year.” The honor is given to a community leader who demonstrates concern for the city’s growth and vitality.
2008
The 10,600-seat Chaifetz Arena opens, bringing men’s basketball back to campus for the first time in more than 60 years.
2010
Meaning “House of Health,” Casa de Salud — a new health and wellness clinic for St. Louis’ immigrant population — opens at the SLU Medical Center.
2012
The University prepares to move its School of Law to downtown St. Louis, bringing more than 1,100 law students and faculty into the heart of the city’s legal community.
Provided by SLU