Controversy
On March 21, 2007, the provost of the university, Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., was dismissed by Monaghan for undisclosed reasons. In a formal statement, Monaghan, in his role as chancellor, stated that the dismissal was because of "irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices." Immediately, the school's first-ever student protests were mounted in support of Fessio. Outside observers were critical: editor Philip F. Lawler of the conservative Catholic World News said the firing was "institutional suicide", that if a respected theologian such as Fessio could be fired then no others would want to fill the position. Monaghan reinstated Fessio the next day as theologian-in-residence, though as of the 2009–2010 school year, he no longer resides at Ave Maria. Fessio said he was fired because of a conversation he had with Academic Vice President Jack Sites about administrative policies harming the university's finances. He said his firing was "another mistake in a long series of unwise decisions" but that he would continue to guide students to AMU. The provost position remains vacant.
The 2008 financial crisis has taken a toll on Ave Maria's finances. Monaghan said in 2012 that Ave Maria's construction cost estimates doubled over three years, requiring the university to cut back on planned buildings. The troubled Florida real estate market also meant that Ave Maria School of Law had to shelve its plans for a building in Ave Maria, as its existing campus is worth less than was paid for it.
In February 2012, Ave Maria made national news when it filed its lawsuit Ave Maria University v. Sebelius, suing the government over the US Health and Human Services mandate by claiming that it would force the university to forego its religious freedom. It became the second college to do so, and was followed by several others, including the Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University of Notre Dame. The lawsuit is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. In June 2012, President Towey wrote that the university would "vigorously prosecute its lawsuit".
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Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)