Kean trustees unanimously deny tenure to six professors

By Stephen Stirling/The Star-Ledger

TOMS RIVER — After a day of emotional protests, the Kean University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to uphold the denial of tenure — and effective layoff — of six university professors at a meeting in Toms River.

Starting just after 11 a.m., dozens of speakers — some in tears, some angry — pleaded with trustees to reject the recommendation of university administration, led by Kean President Dawood Farahi, that the six professors not be granted tenure and be dismissed from their positions at the end of the year.

The board heard almost uniform protests for three hours before entering into closed session at 2 p.m. They emerged again at 4:30 p.m. and without any statement, read off their vote to uphold Farahi’s decision, along with a list of other agenda items.

While many said they were already resigned to the decision, students and faculty gathered at the university’s satellite campus applauded sarcastically, deriding the board’s decision and their lack of explanation.

“What’s disheartening is that they can’t even share a single sentence,” said theater professor Anna DeMers, one of the six denied tenure. “It’s cruel to treat people as a ten-point agenda item.”

James Castiglione, President of the Kean Federation of Teachers, said the decision would compromise the university’s academic standards.

“I think it’s shameful that the board would not provide any reason for their decision after all of the public outcry,” he said. “It jeopardizes the viability of our academic programs to layoff so many qualified professionals.”

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