While a majority of Valparaiso University’s faculty voted in favor of a no-confidence resolution regarding President José Padilla, the school’s Board of Directors issued a statement Saturday that they stand behind Padilla to move the university forward.
The Faculty Senate’s majority voted this week in favor of the no-confidence resolution and the rest of the faculty had until 8 a.m. Saturday to cast a vote. The vote was timed with a meeting this weekend by the Board of Directors.
According to information provided to the Post-Tribune from a faculty member, faculty were asked to vote on the following statement: “I am in favor of the motion of no confidence against President José Padilla.”
There were 171 votes cast, with 131 ballots in favor of the motion, 26 against it, and 14 abstaining.
The Valparaiso University Board of Directors, meanwhile, voted unanimously in support of Padilla, according to a statement issued by university spokesman Michael Fenton on Saturday afternoon.
The board passed a resolution that said it “hereby expresses its full confidence in President Padilla, commends him for his actions, and encourages him to continue to move the institution forward to ensure the success of Valparaiso University and preserve its Lutheran tradition.”
The resolution is signed by Robert Hansen, the board’s chair.
The Faculty Senate voted on a resolution of no confidence on Wednesday, with a vote of 15 in favor, two against and one abstention.
The resolution, provided by a source to the Post-Tribune, noted six areas in which the Faculty Senate said Padilla failed the university, including not fulfilling primary fundraising responsibilities and not improving student enrollment and retention.
In response to the vote, Fenton put out a statement expressing disappointment “that the Faculty Senate feels it is appropriate to take this step, without input or feedback from the faculty at large, prior to their vote on this matter. However, we remain hopeful that all members of the University community can continue to unite in pursuit of our shared goals.”
The Faculty Senate’s full resolution noted that “Padilla’s approach to rectifying our financial deficits has driven our budget increasingly away from our core mission of educating students, reducing the percentage spent on academics to 38%, increasingly below our peers.”
Padilla received widespread criticism for plans to sell three key paintings from the Brauer Museum of Art to raise funds to renovate dorms for first-year students. The sale of the paintings, worth millions of dollars, is slated to go forward after a court ruling in the university’s favor that the trust that provided the funds for the artwork could be amended to allow the sale.
The resolution also noted that Padilla “has not demonstrated the ability to recruit and effectively lead senior administrators, as evidenced by, among other issues, significant turnover in key leadership positions”; his leadership style “has fostered discontent and a deep sense of insecurity amongst the constituents of the University”; and Padilla, “from the earliest days of his tenure, has taken a contentious approach with the faculty, staff, and the broader community, eroding the University’s reputation and fundamental mission.”
The university’s student population has continued to drop, despite recent partnerships with community colleges here and in Chicago.
This isn’t the first time the faculty of a university in the region has taken a no-confidence vote in its leader. With a vote of 135 to 20, the majority of Purdue University Northwest’s tenured, tenure-track and clinical faculty voted to give Chancellor Thomas Keon a vote of “no-confidence” after a racist remark he made at the Dec. 10, 2022, morning commencement ceremony.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
