School Spotlight
Mount St. Mary’s University
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Mount St. Mary’s University: Opposition to University President Results in Faculty Firings, Threats to Free Student Press
February 9, 2016
On February 8, 2016, Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland fired a tenured faculty member, as well as the faculty advisor to student newspaper The Mountain Echo, following their criticism of first-year university President Simon P. Newman’s controversial freshman retention plan.
Mount St. Mary’s University President Simon Newman Resigns After Accreditor Questions Commitment to Freedom of Expression
March 1, 2016
Embattled Mount St. Mary’s University (MSMU) President Simon Newman has resigned, the school’s Board of Trustees announced late last night. In a statement, MSMU said Newman tendered his resignation late Monday, effective immediately. The statement quoted Newman, who said, “[T]he recent publicity relating to my leadership has become too great of a distraction to our… Read more
FIRE Announces 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2016
February 17, 2016
PHILADELPHIA, February 17, 2016—Nearly half of America’s top colleges maintain speech codes that blatantly violate First Amendment standards. But every year the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) takes a closer look at the past year’s incidents of college censorship to determine the nation’s 10 worst abusers of student and faculty free speech rights…. Read more
BREAKING: Fired Mount St. Mary’s University Professors Reinstated
February 12, 2016
Mount St. Mary’s University (MSMU) President Simon Newman announced at a faculty meeting this afternoon that professors Ed Egan and Thane Naberhaus have been reinstated, FIRE has independently confirmed. FIRE sent a letter demanding the professors’ reinstatement to President Newman yesterday. On Monday, Newman took the extraordinary step of firing Naberhaus, a tenured professor, and… Read more
FIRE Asks Mount St. Mary’s To Reinstate Fired Professors, Uphold Academic Freedom and Due Process
February 12, 2016
FIRE has written to Mount St. Mary’s University (MSMU), asking the school to reinstate two professors amid a public scandal over an administrative plan to weed out low-performing students. MSMU had been under scrutiny for weeks over President Simon Newman’s plan to use student survey responses in an effort to weed out low-performing students and… Read more
Opposition to Mount St. Mary’s President Results in Faculty Firings, Dire Threats to Free Student Press
February 9, 2016
BALTIMORE, February 9, 2016—Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland has gone “nuclear.” Yesterday, the liberal arts university took the extraordinary step of firing a tenured faculty member and the faculty advisor to the student newspaper following their criticism of first-year university president Simon P. Newman’s plan to oust low-performing freshmen. The plan became national news… Read more
President of Mount St. Mary’s U. Goes Nuclear, Fires Professors Who Questioned Plan to Expel Students (UPDATED)
February 9, 2016
Reports out of Maryland’s Mount St. Mary’s University (MSMU) allege administrators have fired two professors—one of whom had tenure—and demoted a third as retribution for criticizing MSMU President Simon Newman’s controversial plan to oust low-performing freshmen in an effort to improve rankings. Last month, MSMU’s student newspaper, The Mountain Echo, reported that Newman planned to… Read more
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