Faculty Pushes Out Case Western Pres.

A month after Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers stepped down, Case Western Reserve University president Edward M. Hundert announced his resignation last Thursday in the wake of a 131-44 no-confidence vote by the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Case Western faculty criticized Hundert, who faced a $40 million budget deficit and lagging fundraising returns, for instituting budget cuts and sweeping academic reforms without their consultation and for having an allegedly secretive management style. Hundert said in his resignation letter that the continuing tension made it impossible for him to carry out planned university advancements.

Even in the wake of the no-confidence vote, students said they were surprised by Hundert’s decision and expressed admiration for what they saw as his committment to initiating bold changes.

“The students thought he wouldn’t give up,” said Sarah E. English, a junior at Case Western. “He was hired to be fresh.”

She said that, other than a few in-class discussions of Hundert’s resignation, there had been little student dialogue on campus pointing to the similarities between Hundert’s and Summers’ decisions to step down.

Some professors who supported the vote of no-confidence said that Hundert’s decision was rushed.

“The vote of no confidence was the easy part,” said Theodore S. Gup, Wormser professor of journalism at Case Western and a long-time critic of Hundert. “Knocking the rider off the horse wouldn’t solve the problem...I would have left him time to clean up his mess.”