Warren Wilson College president announces resignation

photo courtesy of Warren Wilson College

Press release from Warren Wilson College:

Steven L. Solnick is stepping down from his post as Warren Wilson College’s seventh president to become the newest leader of The Calhoun School, an independent day school in New York City. Solnick, who assumed the presidency in July of 2012, will remain with the College until June 30, 2017.

“This decision was difficult for me because I believe deeply in the mission and values of Warren Wilson College, and I know it has a bright future,” Solnick wrote to campus community members. “I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for the trust it placed in me and the unwavering support it has shown since my arrival. I am also grateful to the exceptionally talented members of the College’s Cabinet for their dedication and support, to each and every one of the faculty and staff for all they do for the College and its students, and to the students whose intellect, talent and dedication to Warren Wilson’s core values inspire us all.”

While mixed emotions set the tone for his transition, Solnick said his new role presents a rare opportunity to live and work in the New York City area closer to family. He also noted his enthusiasm for Calhoun’s mission and core values, which are similar to those found at Warren Wilson College.

In addition to Solnick’s letter, William “Bill” Christy, chairman of the Board of Trustees and a 1979 graduate, addressed the campus via email.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Steve Solnick for his 4+ years of service as president of Warren Wilson College,” Christy wrote. “Steve has displayed intellect, vision and leadership during his tenure. As our president, he has helped the College and the Board to focus on academic excellence, expand our applied learning model, refinance the debt of the College and redeploy our endowment in alignment with our core values. In addition, he has led the formulation of the new strategic plan which the Board believes is a roadmap for future sustainability of the College.”

The College’s next president is expected to be in place by July 1, 2017. In the coming weeks, a recruitment firm will begin working with a campus-based committee led by Lach Zemp, a member of the Warren Wilson College Board of Trustees, to launch a national search.

For more information about Solnick’s announcement, visit http://avl.mx/32v.

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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.

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65 thoughts on “Warren Wilson College president announces resignation

  1. Bill

    Maybe if you would clean up the dorms to at least to the level of filthy, you would not have students leaving in droves.

    • In the know at WW

      Two words for Your Worst Friend Possible and WWCALUM: PREACH! and THANK YOU. We are afraid to speak up at WW because we fear retaliation and we all need our jobs.
      Please continue to spread the truth for those who cannot.

      • Really not a fan. REALLY.

        Yeah, fear just doesn’t seem to keep people loving their jobs. Solnick is a hateful, vindictive, sorry-ass excuse for a human being. He should have been fired after his first year. My alma mater is in danger of failing completely. I hope the Board is ready to write some big checks, and that Advancement is called for their miserable fundraising. It’s time to fix this thing.

    • Deplorable Infidel

      huh? filth should not bother the students that love WWC … it’s part of the earthiness equation…

  2. WWCALUM

    “While mixed emotions set the tone for his transition, Solnick said his new role presents a rare opportunity to live and work in the New York City area closer to family. ”

    Translated: “I can’t do my job so I am moving back to NYC and got this job at Shake Shack so I can be closer to family”

    • Really not a fan. REALLY.

      Perfect. This was my first response to his farewell message: “Hi, I’m God, but I’m tired of screwing up this College. So, I decided to move to another school to destroy IT. Aren’t you happy for me??”

  3. boatrocker

    As you cannot judge the quality of education by one student alone, at least I can joke about it.

    I heard WWC student at a local watering hole complaining that even the word menstruation was sexist. I asked what her major was.
    “Women’s Studies”.- I informed her that menses, the Latin root for menstruation means ‘monthly’.
    She made one of those huffy noises and went back to staring at her phone.

    I hope she reads this- yea, this is the ‘sexist pig’ who pointed that out.

    To ‘your worst friend possible’ (interesting handle- is their a true story behind that?)-
    Way to denigrate teaching in high schools and elementary schools (in all caps like certain un moderated sock puppets).
    Even if the WWC college pres did a bad job, that smacks of Palin like populism.

    Ever tried teaching? For having all the answers it would seem a natural career choice for you.
    Don’t worry, I’m not offended, I just kinda feel sorry for certain other posters.

    • boatrocker

      I think my observation vs. an argument was either the female WWC student I mentioned was either a congenital idiot or maybe the education has suffered at that school recently.

      Calling me a shill? Riiiight- I just happened to type something you disagree with, little safe space poster.
      When I graduated college, NAFTA and Lorena Bobbit were the big news if that gives you any historical context.

      • boatrocker

        I’ll out lefty you on a bad day, poster.

        (cracking the knuckles for typing)

        • boatrocker

          No Dontrocktheboat(anobviousplayoffmyoriginalname)
          I didn’t attend that crappy school for college and unlike most WWC grads, I use and respect my majors on a daily basis.

          This message appears above Dontrocktheboat’s message, as maybe that is what that poster learned in college.

        • FuntoGun

          I member – Paula DID make that joke about a lesbian co-worker during a speech and didn’t get fired, even though she shoulda, but Steve saved her?! I member that!

        • boatrocker

          Just one more, apparently FuntoGun failed the one and only ‘ancient’ history class that poster was forced to take.

          Some of us got through college learning to express ourselves and debate with others for lack of safe spaces and caving in to being able to carry guns on campus when we didn’t agree with grades for our term papers.

          I am terrified for the day you WWC folk will run the world, as the idea of being a real lefty will be over under, under and done.

      • ICEMANofALFRED

        Graduated FROM College/School … to Graduate something is to measure or cut it up into pieces

    • Really not a fan. REALLY.

      You just don’t get it. Yes, WWC’s students tend to be young and idealistic. Thank GOD for that! (…and by “GOD” I mean all good things, no religious bent)
      You don’t have a clue what Solnick did to WWC. It’s not about “teaching,” it’s about LEADERSHIP. Solnick is no more fit to lead a high school than he was to “lead” WWC. He was a face-card. Something fancy that a single board member forced on the school. Don’t imagine that your opinion will sway anyone who is involved with the school.

  4. WWC Parent

    As a parent of a Freshman, I met the President at Freshman Orientation and was completely unimpressed. This is an opportunity for WWC to do much better as it moves forward.

    • Really not a fan. REALLY.

      NO ONE has been “impressed” by Solnick. It baffles me that he has lasted this long. It will be a long while before the school begins to thrive again.

  5. Asheville Resident

    Maybe former president Doug Orr can pick WWC a new president, as he picked a new chancellor for UNC Asheville.

  6. Mister E

    Solnick’s time at the helm has been a disaster, and may well have been the death blow to WWC.

    Dropping the Business Major at a Work College!!?? Not replacing Staff or retiring Deans??!! (instead combining job titles/work loads), PLUS mando pay cuts, losing benefits, retirement etc, and yet one is still expected to go the “extra mile” required of EVERYONE who works there!! Good Luck keeping the morale up.
    The horrid decision making, (by him and his Senior Administrators), the failure to provide any true leadership under his administration, PLUS a quickly shrinking student body have left WWC in a desperate financial crisis (tuition pays the bills). Granted, he inherited an institution in need of a Vision, but instead of doing what he was hired to do–RAISE CAPITAL $$$–he has led the College to the brink of disaster.

    He will be the President remembered for killing a once proud, unique institutions Soul.

    Rebrand it all you want, the damage has been done. The ship is foundering. When a majority of the long term staff up and resign over the course of 18 months, something is terribly wrong with the leadership. When the Administration FAILS to provide a model for success, a comprehensive vision for the future and a viable road map on how to get there, well, you wind up wallowing in the Pig Slop.

    Clean House. Start Over. Flush….whatever it takes. If there is no significant change in the way WWC is being run from the Top down, we will soon see a nice new housing development where once stood one of the coolest models for higher education in the entire country.

    Hell of a Legacy Solnick.

    • Punkinboy

      To all those brothers and sisters at WWC – everyone needs to be aware of what is going on here at our beloved school. If we are going to be let go or if the school is going to be in hock, we need to know about it. I would call up the board members personally and ask them what is going to be done. Many of the people listed are good people and should be willing to talk with you about the state of the college and what can be done after the dictator Solnick has left (too bad he can’t leave immediately). And if we find out our jobs are on the line, we need to really think hard about backup jobs or moving to other positions. Good luck everyone.

      Mr. H. Ross Arnold III
      Atlanta, Georgia

      Ms. Terry M. Bellamy
      Asheville, North Carolina

      Mrs. Alice C. Buhl
      Rocksville, Maryland

      Mr. Carmen Castaldi
      Santa Rosa, California

      Dr. Chiung-Sally Chou
      Alhambra, California

      Mr. William H. Christy ’79
      Chair
      Black Mountain, North Carolina

      Mr. R. Michael Condrey
      Vice Chair
      Raleigh, North Carolina

      Mr. Donald R. Cooper
      Black Mountain, North Carolina

      Mr. John W. Cruikshank III
      Northbrook, Illinois

      Ms. Jessica L. Culpepper
      Davidson, North Carolina

      Mr. George W. Hatch
      Wenham, Massachusetts

      Mr. Thomas K. Johnson
      Marietta, Georgia

      Dr. Steven M. Kane
      Atlanta, Georgia

      Dr. William A. Laramee
      Berea, Kentucky

      Ms. Elisa Massimino
      Washington, DC

      Dr. Anne Graham Masters ’73
      Secretary
      Greenville, South Carolina

      Dr. Susan E. Pauly
      Vienna, Virginia

      Mr. Anthony S. Rust
      South Kingstown, Rhode Island

      Dr. George Andrew Scott ’75
      Cincinnati, Ohio

      Mr. Stephen L. Ummel
      Treasurer
      Savannah, Georgia

      Mr. F. Lachicotte Zamp, Jr.
      Asheville, North Carolina

    • Bright

      Anyone out there know who the hell was responsible for hiring Solnick? My kid graduated when the old boy was being installed…

      • Dante

        Joel Adams and the trustees at the time. IIRC they thought he was amazing but just goes to show that you can’t hire a corporate manager to run an institution of higher learning. Better to stick with people with actual experience. IMO the best thing the college has is the MFA program and what’s going to happen to it if the school collapses? Our current President has no clue, clearly.

        • luther blissett

          There’s a standard pattern among the current generation of MBA-type college administrators: don’t give a damn about the faculty or students or current conditions, but gotta build some shiny buildings for your legacy. Not that different from hospital administrators.

      • Really not a fan. REALLY.

        He was the darling of a single board member. She wouldn’t consider anyone else. She was mesmerized by his degrees, and she unleashed a demon on WWC.

    • your worst friend possible

      I just saw this posting from the Calhoun school about SS:

      “After conducting a nationwide search, The Calhoun School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Steven Solnick as the new Head of School effective July 1, 2017. Dr. Solnick will succeed Steve Nelson when he retires after 19 years of leading the school. Nelson’s transformational tenure included a reinvigorated commitment to progressive education and diversity, equity, and social justice; multiple facilities expansions and renovations; significant enrollment growth; dramatic increases in annual fundraising; and substantial increases in faculty compensation.”

      Multiple facilities? Is he referring to the pool? The buildings on campus are falling apart. Many have mold. Most are filthy. He shut down the Pond, for god sakes.

      Significant enrollment growth? Is that a joke? Did he actually sell Calhoun on that? We’re bleeding out students ever semester.

      Dramatic increases in fundraising? Steve NEVER went out to fundraise.

      Faculty compensation? He just cut salaries and benefits across the board.

      I can’t even believe that Calhoun is actually saying these things. These are flat-out falsehoods. But Calhoun will get what they deserve if they believe him on these things.

      • Virginia Daffron

        It looks to me as though the Calhoun School was attributing those accomplishments to its outgoing Head of School Nelson.

      • Really not a fan. REALLY.

        I agree, there is nothing in the outgoing Head’s accomplishments that can be attributed to Solnick. He is a fraud. He NEVER should have been hired at WWC, and he has RUINED peoples’ lives. RUINED them. I might have to draft a letter to Calhoun (after the announcement that WWC has employed his replacement!

      • Donna

        They are crediting those accomplishments to the retiring Head of School at Calhoun, not Solnick.

  7. Christine

    I am Class of ’86, & have been an active Alumni , but I recently withdrew support from WWC, in part because of the ineptitude and in fact wrong-headedness of the leadership, including this outgoing president. I have never understood why the Board hired him, so obviously a mismatch. . He now leaves a wake of destruction, jargon and eviscerated morale among staff, students and alumni . WWC Alumni please reach out to the Board and ask them to step up and search for a modern day Ben Holden or Doug Orr. someone one who understand the need for community healing as well as business acumen in our unique, now ailing alma mater..

  8. Writing On The Wall

    The amount of staff turnover the past two years has been massive. So many really, really good faculty and staff have left because the ship has been steadily sinking. People who had been there for years and had really helped to grow the reputation of the school. People who cared deeply about the message and the students, but who felt marginalized by management. A real shame…

    • FuntoGun

      you think there’s a way to solve this? salaries and benefits have been cut.. no more retirement.. cuts in services and hiring freezes.. let’s say they have a $5m budget deficit.. that’s basically laying off 50 people or more.. and the school has like 150 people in total. that’s essentially a shutdown. all I remember is one of the financial aid people telling parents that they would sell off land to pay the bills. they have 10 open positions and probably only need one of them, admissions counselor. from the top down there’s complete delusion.

      • FuntoGun

        Let’s also remember how Solnick never balanced the budget.. and still wanted to build the academic building.. this is such great investigation journalism fodder. Been here four years, budget was never solved, enrollment on a steady shot downward, revolving door of administration who never liked the President. He knew that this was going on but let his insane ego get in the way.. When the SACS meeting comes around and we’re hit by negative feedback/sanction, it’s going to go right to the Chronicle of Higher Education via the news wires or by one of us happily forwarding it to a hungry writer who wants to break the next Sweet Briar. Oh and watch, Steve will stop showing up on campus and start “working from home” aka Massachusetts. When it starts to get real bad, you’ll see Trustees resigning so they don’t get caught up in the nightmare. You heard all of this here first, beloved co-workers.

        The next President will bat clean up, too. None of the cabinet will be retained, I guarantee it.

  9. boatrocker

    Perhaps this is also a conversation about education in NC in general since 2010, when the ‘vilify them fancy pants teachers’ counter revolution hit.
    Education is not to be run like a business, for so, so many reasons.
    Even for the for profit colleges, just saying.

    I feel sorry for anyone lucky enough to go to college, graduate, be saddled with big time student loan debt and then have the ‘real world’ work force tell you
    to fall in line and keep your head down or they’ll fire you and get someone younger, less educated and willing to work for less to fill your spot next Monday.

  10. Judy

    Please, enough. While I certainly understand the desire to convey frustration by those who feel hurt (or angry), consider: how is this public form of expression helping Warren Wilson College continue forth as the incredible institution that it remains? Every day there are (and have been) programs and events being developed and taking place among employees with the support of their leaders (for example, next Wednesday at the college: https://mountainx.com/arts/country-for-syria-creates-a-unique-sound-that-blends-musical-traditions/), classes being taught by dedicated faculty, compassionate care transferred through every hand that holds this institution together (which includes leaders, employees and students), and voices of students who express to us how much they love their campus. For those of you who are worried, get involved and be the change that continues serving our institution through the kind of compassionate care that we can be proud of. As employees that remain, our institution is very much alive. We show up each day and we want to continue being the beacon that, as an institution, we are. So please, stop with the ridicule and take a more humane role by expressing your concerns to those who can affect change during our transition. You’re not just hurting the President, you’re hurting us-current employees and students.

    • Lolly4now

      Thank you, Judy, for your comment. I worked at WWC for 11 years and although my departure was decided for me, I still am passionate about this institution. Back in the day, there was a group of people identified by College Relations (now Advancement) as ongoing friends of the College. I call upon all supporters of this school to make themselves known, get involved, and let’s turn this institution around. Now is an opportunity to rebuild the college. It will take a village. Maybe have a service day where all the friends and alumni come together and help get the campus in shape. Give a buck or two. I pass the college every day, and even knowing lack of vision and poor judgement led WWC to this point, it wasn’t in such great shape in 1998 either…about the same enrollment. So let’s get the show on the road to a more bright future!

  11. Concerned spouse

    As the spouse of a WWC employee, I understand your pain and frustration. Believe me, the financial hits haven’t been easy for us. However, venting your frustrations in a public forum isn’t particularly helpful for the long term viability of the college. The school retains an incredible history, a unique mission, and talented and dedicated faculty and staff working hard to provide a quality education for the students. Your concern about declining student numbers will only be reinforced by publicly trashing the school. Yes, it is important to question how decisions have been made that has brought the school to this point of financial instability in order to avoid making future mistakes and correcting course. But I agree with Judy that people need to quit complaining and help get the word out about everything that is going right with the college and work to put it on a more stable track. Publicly denigrating the school is counter-productive and will only make morale worse, ruin the school’s reputation, and result in more declining student numbers, all of which could result in you losing your job.

    • Bright

      Keep the complaints secret, huh…like women who kept Trump’s abuse of them quiet? Naw…sometimes after inside criticisms have been powerless to improve the situation, it becomes time to go public. Many at Wilson have kept quiet in order “to save their jobs.” Is that working???

      • Concerned spouse

        I’m not saying keep them secret – it’s just counterproductive to the long term health of the college to be complaining without offering any concrete solutions or steps forward. What are people outside of the college who have no context of the school and the current situation supposed to do except tell their friends and students to avoid the college? It’s not like a public college where there is taxpayer accountability. It takes time to turn things around and Solnick’s resignation is a good start and it’s essential that the school hires the right person this time. I also question some of the hiring decisions that are being made and agree with a previous poster that some of the current advertised positions seem superfluous. Believe me, my family’s future depends on the health of the college as much as anyone which is why people should be working to move things forward instead of helping to send the school into a downward spiral.

        • Bucketjet

          I’m an actual employee of WWC and am one who sees this first hand – in all of these messages, no one is tearing down the college. Only Solnick. He needs to leave immediately, not in 9 months, as our great school needs fixing immediately. Not next summer. Now. Yesterday. Last year. You know what happens when no one speaks up? The college craters and we all say “why didn’t we do something, like Sweet Briar?” No good ideas here include your vision of restraint. We’re an activist college, in case anyone forgot our history. Steve has to go immediately and that is the only way to turn things around, and it needs to be made known to the community and trustees that this the only way forward. After that, we ger behind someone new who can make the hard choices on our budget, accreditation and students. Done.

          • luther blissett

            Transparency’s necessary to clean house. To establish the basic ground rules for the next president, and draw lines in the sand. “The terrible things Solnick did — we’re not going to do those any more” is a concrete step.

          • Really not a fan. REALLY.

            You don’t know how truly right you are. Solnick gets off on terrorizing people. I am intimately involved in one of his WORST decisions ever. He is soulless, out for himself, and a worthless pos. Wilson will survive, but it’s gonna be a long tough road back. Good luck to you!

  12. Son of John

    As a former employee, I can say that the faculty and staff that still remain at WWC are dedicated and believe in the college’s mission. Staying on board even with massive increases in health benefit costs, salary cuts, zero retirement, low morale and no confidence in the administration who lack accountability and exude arrogance is a testament of commitment. All of last year the administration touted the same tag lines, “we are in this together”, “we are in the same boat”, “we feel your pain etc”. How can a faculty or staff member making 20% – 40% of what these administrators make in annual salary buy into that? The majority of the faculty could be employed elsewhere, but they choose to stay. Why? They have and come from all over the nation from credible institutions of higher learning and have amazing accomplishments pre-WWC. This activist, eco-minded, small liberal arts college with a mission has lead them to believe that they can make a difference and they have. Many have spoken up about the current administration, why do you think Steven was on the market in the first place? You don’t really believe that he was “tapped” by a K-12 school in NYC do you? But it should not stop with Steven Solnick’s resignation. He should not be the only administrator to go. There needs to be a major clean up on the DEAN aisle. The academic dean and dean of students have been ineffective and at times completely incompetent and many of you know this. I am sure one of them has got to be on the hiring committee for the new president, I wonder if the committee will be made public. Serving on that committee would be an obvious and desperate attempt at trying to obtain job security. No one from Steven’s hiring committee (including board members) should even be allowed to touch the new committee with a ten foot pole, let alone be on it. Steven was only half the problem. Now the other half may have a say in who the new president will be? If this is the case, someone on the board needs to nip this in the bud now. I left, because I, unlike Steven, was actually “tapped” WWC is too good to let die a slow and painful death.

    • GoogleNuz101

      If you’re saying Paula should not be on the search committee, which she is, then I am 110% with you. I guarantee I am not the only one with this view. Paula should be the first to go, in fact.

      • Done

        I completely concur! We are all suffering through Paula’s incompetency. We need new leadership now more than ever.

  13. WWC Supporter

    The Pres was hired by the Board of Trustees, headed by Alice Buhl at that time. It was obvious during the final interview process that he was the favored candidate, even though he was not the candidate of choice for faculty and staff. He immediately made it apparent that nothing that had gone on before his arrival was of any value, and he forced the “retirement” of a number of some long-term, excellent employees. He did not listen to anyone, just knowing that he was always right. He and the Board have made a series of poor decisions, including eliminating nursing, teaching, and business, all majors where graduates can actually get jobs. Every administrator that he hired later was let go, which shows you how poor his decision-making ability is. He should have been fired after six months, but the Board let him hang on for years too long. It will be just short of a miracle if the college can recover financially, but I hope it does for it has tremendous potential.

    • Plenty

      Plenty to agree with here, but many of his hires who came in the door recoiled in horror at Steve’s ego trip and hauled ass out of there. Said no way. At what point when you go through 10+ administrators is it your own fault?

    • Sad for WWC

      This comment and many other comments here about the tone and style of Solnick’s leadership completely resonate with my experience as a former WWC employee. I objected publically and professionally to Solnick’s leadership style in accordance with the shared governance model at the college. I was bullied, slandered, and marginalized as a result. I feel extremely fortunate that I had the freedom to choose other employment. It has been so hard to watch the systematic destruction of such a unique institution by such an unscrupulous opportunist and his allies. I sincerely hope the trustees learn from this experience and seek a new leader for the college who not only can put it back on a course that is true to its original mission, but who also recognizes the need for truth and reconciliation within the current employees, many who have been silenced through threats, intimidation, and appeals to protect the good name of the college.

  14. Don

    For those of us not in the know about all of this…. WOW. Just a sad and debilitating article/story from start to finish. As for the Warren Wilson Board of Trustees who hired, enabled, and let this fellow go on and on with this for years…. they all -everyone single one of the them- need to resign. NOW. PERIOD. NO EXCUSES. And, the very best of luck and best wishes to Warren Wilson College in clawing their way back from this reign of terror… jeez :(

  15. Support WWC

    As a current WWC staff member, the rampant unprofessionalism and outright childishness of most of these posts disgusts me. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

    • Eyes wide open!

      There is nothing unprofessional about this. People are just expressing their true feelings and thoughts. You are either naive or one of the enablers.

      • HenPenChez

        Enabler. In fact, if I was a betting man, it was either Steve, Paula, Scott or Kyle.

        • Eyes wide open!

          Probably Kyle. He’s just the worse kind of hack! Loyal to no one.

  16. Parent of past and current student

    Solnick should have his keys taken away and be escorted off campus, with a no-trespassing warning issue! Also, no current administrators should be on his search committee, nor any board members who were involved in his hiring.

  17. Mark

    http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/10/31/warren-wilson-hires-search-firm-find-next-president/93072714/

    Note that “The announcement came Friday as members of the College Board of Trustees met with staff and faculty members to ensure transparency throughout the search process.”

    I suspect this means that the board is actually listening to what people are saying, which is “don’t screw this up and hire another Solnick who will bankrupt the school and leave with a nice package.” If that’s not what they’re getting, well, then Lach and Bill Christie should resign immediately.

    Note that Paula is still on the search committee and of course the new President will be beholden to her because she helped hire her or him – poor judgement altogether by the board. Note that Paula also “ran” the budget committee which left us with no money, pay cuts, benefit cuts and pending layoffs. Thanks, trustees. Keep up the good work.

    • Mark

      I’ve heard of all of this, and thank you for saying it. I think that it’s safe to say a few things here that the board must truly take to heart. First off, Steve Solnick must be relieved of duty. If you have to pay him out until the end of the year, then do it, but get him off campus. Tomorrow, not next week or next month or in the Spring, you MUST find an interim who has real academic management experience and stop the bleeding of our beloved school. There will be hard choices and we know this. We know. But the hard choices can’t be made by someone who no longer (or never did) have the best interests of this school at heart. Trustees, you know the financials are terrible. You know we’re about the be sanctioned by SACS in December. You know that people are at risk of losing their jobs. Don’t let these things be handled by Steve Solnick. Please. We’re begging you.

      Next, Paula still has her job because of Steve. Take her out of the leadership loop and away from the search committee. You need a new Provost. Full stop. Bill C, just go look at her HR file. Talk to the faculty. Department chairs. Track down former faculty. You will know the score.

      Third – if you, the trustees, are not willing to make the hard choices immediately and save the school, then you need to get off the board. Make way for people who can do it.

  18. Bucketjet

    Mountainx – it’s clear that you’re removing posts, and yeah, it’s your site, but the ones you’re pulling appear totally arbitrary. One post will say one thing and another will say the same, but the latter will get pulled. Either something is getting triggered or you’re getting pressure from WWC to silence comments. Your team has a story out there in WWC that needs to reported on and you’ve decided it’s not newsworthy enough. I think you all need to focus on that versus arbitrary and random thread removals which hinder knowledge spread and discussion. If you can’t deal with tough comments, then maybe you need to remove that capability across the board for your whole site.

    • Able Allen

      Our removal of comments has been motivated by discovery of violation of our terms. Cases could include one person representing themselves as several different people on this thread, cases where posters use emails that are not valid or using someone else’s identity. We have not removed any posts on this thread based strictly on content.

      • Bucketjet

        You guys are running an anonymous comment system. That basically tells users to be anonymous. I would almost guarantee that most of your comments come from fake email addresses. If this you’re unhappy with this outcome, then maybe you’re better off switching to a FB posting app. Not to mention that WWC people are afraid of backlash but still feel a real need to post their experiences. And as opposed to other threads where I saw someone “impersonate” Solnick, none of that has happened here. However, you have removed every comment referring to the Paula pickling incident, which is factual and did occur. Multiple people posted on that. I’m looking at cached versions and that’s curious given your comments. But hey, I believe your and I think everyone is happy with your site in that they can comment freely and you get ad revenue for it.

        • Able Allen

          I can tell you that the vast majority of our comments do come from accounts associated with valid (yet anonymous) email addresses. At this time anonymity is ok. People can discuss incidents here anonymously at this time. They just have to be respectful of our terms and conditions. Thanks for your thoughts.

  19. Former Professor

    Voldemort came. He saw. He utterly conquered. The short story: Death eater pigs flanked his black stallions of piercing ego and rage. Spines accustomed to walking upright readily softened and melted into tucked tails – some kicked to the curb, some still shivering in the shadows …we know the story, it repeats in art and life, from the smallest campus to the largest country. Even the prowess of so-called shining independent thought could not save what it first abandoned in that so desperate act of welcoming the devil into the door….to – of all things – fix things. An evil eventually so victorious, his work of destruction now complete, he lies in leisure like an overstuffed cat leaving when he is ready….leaving the leftover scraps to his loyal pigs.

    • TUNE IN TOMORROW

      Latest rumors:

      1. SACS has them on warning.
      2. Steve Solnick is phoning it in and it shows.
      3. No one wants him there.
      4. Paula is apparently being shown the door.

      Anyone out there hear anything similar?

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