AMUforums

For the purpose of distributing the video address of Ave Maria University SGA President Daniel Montgomery, we are very happy to introduce our new Youtube Channel.

In this video Daniel Montogomery, address the Ave Maria University students in a recorded message about the sudden firing of Rev. Joseph Fessio, SJ. Here is the official description: “Giving you a unique perspective on the recent dismissal of Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.” This is the first broadcast from President Montogomery, and has been recieving positive commentary: Maura O’Leary writes : “very diplomatically and eloquently said, prez!” and Holly Solis thanked President Montgomery for the video.

We look forward to more videos from our SGA President.

- AMUforums

My dear friends,

As the title of this note indicates, I believe that the administration of Ave Maria University has sunk to new lows in self-destruction and gross misconduct with the firing of Fr. Fessio. I am fully aware that this note is in the public domain and may very well be circulated among members of the administration, yet I feel the great need to exercise my right to free speech, especially since it is this right which they disdained and ignored with their handling of this fiasco. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the University hangs in the balance—and with it your degrees and your future as determined by your college educations.

Let me be blunt: although I respect Fr. Fessio tremendously for his tireless efforts on behalf of Ave Maria, particularly in its earliest years at Naples, and while I retain affection and admiration for him, I do not write this note to plead for his reinstatement. His status as Theologian-in-Residence was nominal at best, and he taught only one class a semester (if that) these past two years, so on one level, the administration probably did him a favor by firing him. In all honesty, I was one of those people who thought that the protests which took place outside the administrative villa at the old campus after his first sacking were excessive, even if the feelings which prompted the protesters were genuinely offended. This time, however, Fr. Fessio’s firing goes beyond Fr. Fessio alone.

What I know definitively are these facts as taken from from Fr. Fessio’s letter as posted at American Papist:

1. Dr. Jack Sites left a SACS conference in Houston, TX, to fly to San Francisco to fire Fr. Fessio yesterday, July 20, 2009. Hearsay adds that Dr. Sites left that conference in the middle of a meeting as though in a rush after receiving a call.
2. Fr. Fessio had a private conversation concerning the financial situation of AMU with Mr. Jack Donahue, the chairman of the Board of Trustees at the time, prior to the board meeting in November 2008. Hearsay adds that he was invited to the board meeting to give insight into how Ignatius Press was handling the economic crisis. Basically, they wanted to see what was working for him, the Chief Editor and Founder of Ignatius Press, in his own business.
3. Mr. Donahue proceeded to relate the conversation to Mr. Monaghan in an effort to prevent further “undermining” of the University by a “faculty member.” Hearsay adds that Mr. Donahue is a dyed-in-the-wool Monaghan loyalist.
4. Dr. Sites informed Fr. Fessio that unspecified persons (he declined to divulge their identities and thus denied Fr. Fessio the chance to defend himself) made allegations similar to the one expressed by Mr. Donahue which contributed to his firing. My suspicions point toward Mr. Monaghan himself, President Nick Healy, and Mr. Paul Roney, CFO.

Why do these four facts lead me to believe that AMU is critically endangered at the hands of Mr. Monaghan et al? First of all, the administration exposed itself as calculating and vicious by firing Fr. Fessio after the end of summer classes in the middle of summer break (biding its time for 8 months!), ensuring that the minimum number of students would be present on campus and also giving each administrator an excuse (every man of them is on vacation) not to be on campus for any possible confrontations with protesters. Secondly, they have made no official announcement of this firing, either on the official AMU website or via WebMail, preferring to keep as many people as possible uninformed and thus forcing students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff to decamp to independent blogs and militantly hostile websites for any shred of truth. Thirdly, they continue to demonstrate that despite their protestations of putting the students above all considerations, they spit in our faces as students and as adults by being completely opaque in their decision-making process regarding Fr. Fessio. Fourthly, they have failed to learn from their colossal mishandling of the first time they fired Fr. Fessio on March 22, 2007, by handling this second firing with almost the same hubris, acting as though permanently dissociating the University from Fr. Fessio is in no way detrimental to what they consider their God-given mission to lead this school as they see fit. Fifthly, they used as the basis of this firing the private conversation between Fr. Fessio and Mr. Donaghy, setting yet another disturbing precedent in a deeply ingrained culture of backstabbing and conspiracy among the AMU bureaucracy through fear of offending Mr. Monaghan, whose power to destroy an AMU employee is limitless. Ironically, Fr. Fessio confided his misgivings about the current direction of the administration only to the chairman of the Board of Trustees; that is to say, he could not possibly have undermined the University with his criticisms because only one man who was at the top of the University hierarchy was privy to his opinions. It’s not as if he published a blog entry or went on a TV show to express his opinions in public! Not only that, they didn’t solve anything–neither the financial situation nor the criticism–by firing him. Last but certainly not least, it all boils down to this one crucial point: Mr. Monaghan felt threatened by Fr. Fessio’s criticisms, and his loyalists were no less eager to see the downfall of a great rival, so Fr. Fessio’s exercise of the right to free speech led ultimately to the demise of his career at AMU.

You may well be asking yourself—and me—at this point why any of this business concerns you, an alumnus or rising senior who has nothing left to give to an institution that has bled dry your heart, your soul, your marrow, and your wallet yet has neglected your pleas for reform, transparency, and openness for years. If you enjoyed your experiences at Ave while you were there, you may think that it’s useless to retain your affection for it, given the toxic combination of naivete and arrogance past the point of endurance. If you hated your time at Ave, you may think the University is finally getting its comeuppance and good riddance for the rest of the world. If, like me, you gave your life to Ave not only for four years but also continue to do so as an alumnus because you are grateful for your humanistic (in the best sense of the word) education and believe that you owe a great debt to your alma mater, you probably feel betrayed and that you were taken for granted. Whatever the case may be with each of you reading this note, I tell you right now that it doesn’t matter!

We have no choice but to defend our alma mater from itself. In purely self-interested terms, you all graduated from or are attending a relatively obscure and poor institution with only a wisp of a reputation for intellectual rigor, but at least you have a diploma or soon will have one which says that you have a B.A. Even if it remains an unaccredited degree for now, it is still a degree; however, if Ave Maria University crashes into oblivion, your unaccredited degree will undergo a metaphysical transformation into your non-existent degree. It will be as though you never went to college at all, and perhaps worse, you will have wasted four years and tens of thousands of dollars on literally NOTHING. But there are far more significant considerations. Here we are, products of an AMU liberal arts education steeped in the traditions of the Church and of Western intellectual thought, yet we are expected to become leaders in a free society and in the Church which upholds the doctrine of free will while being confronted by our own administrators with the odious suppression of free speech and conscientious objection? The violation of this fundamental natural and political right should be our rallying cry against this administration, intent as it is on an authoritarian approach to management and government. Moreover, any administration that relies on informants and blacklists employees into mute submission has no business running a University, which ought to be the very embodiment of philosophy, the love of wisdom and the quest for truth. John Henry Cardinal Newman argued in his work Idea of a University that the university is dedicated to the search and transmission of all truth, including the fundamental truths revealed by Christ through His Church, and Pope John Paul II’s Ex corde ecclesiae expands on this theme. These two men loom large in the foundation and mission of Ave Maria, yet their work is trampled daily. We cannot put up with this degradation any further! One of you urged me to be realistic about the chance of turning around this horrific situation within the administration, and I assured you that I was under no illusions. It may well be that we are witnessing the beginning of the end, despite our best efforts. However, I have seen what the power of prayer has done at Ave Maria, and I refuse to give up hope that the Lord will not abandon AMU to be devoured by the wolves. I have given too much and been given too much these past five years to allow four men to destroy what I believe is a crucial part of my earthly vocation: to help Ave Maria achieve its place in the annals of civilization as “a light for all nations.”

I strongly urge all of you, therefore, to join me in a massive alumni letter-writing campaign that addresses the aforementioned abuses of power, both internally on the ethical level, i.e. no transparency and a culture of secrecy, and externally on the political level, i.e. free speech. Why letters? Won’t they just toss them like they’ve tossed out every survey or petition we ever gave them? Simply put, we have to start somewhere, and it’s good to have written communication in the event of confrontation. I don’t intend to stop at letters if the time comes for further action, especially since I move back to Naples for law school on August 10, but it would be foolish to do anything more at this point when none of us know the whole truth. I particularly addressed this note to alumni because we hold a very important trump card: in order for SACS to grant the University full accreditation, every alumnus must contribute at least $1 to the alumni fund to demonstrate that the alumni are invested in the future of the University. If nothing else, we have learned that money speaks among the administrators. I have been a Founder since 2006, but I know precious few alumni are. It is a demonstrable fact that they need us; on the other hand, we don’t need them anymore. I am grateful to Mr. Monaghan for his incredible vision and generosity in establishing our beloved alma mater, and I think all of us should always be grateful to him. Nevertheless, my feeling of gratitude no longer overwhelms my feeling of betrayal, and I no longer fear retribution. Neither should any of you be intimidated into silence.

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments which you’d like to keep private, please don’t hesitate to send me a message on Facebook. Otherwise, I look forward to your feedback below, and I ask that, at the very least, you all pray fervently for the safety and success of our University. I hope we can send letters from at least 300 alumni to each member of the administration, so I humbly request your support in this important endeavor.

May God bless you all abundantly and may Our Lady intercede for us and for her University.

In Christ,

Joreen Siena R. Belocura
Ave Maria ‘08
Ave Maria Law ‘12

avewatch reports:

In response to yesterday’s firing of Ave Maria University theologian Fr. Joseph Fessio, AMU released a statement that said:

“The decision was made by the leadership of the university and supported by its Board of Trustees..”

With Ave Maria busy promoting its July 7, 2009 invitation of Bishop Frank Dewane (Diocese of Venice, FL) to its Board of Trustees, AveWatch asked if Dewane, as a member of the Board, “supported” the decision to fire Fr. Fessio.

AveWatch appreciates the prompt response from the office of His Excellency, the Bishop of Venice.  The following was received this morning from Adela Gonzales White, Spokesperson for the Diocese (full-text):

Thank you for being in touch. Your interest in the sake of clarity is appreciated.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida is a non-voting ex officio member of the Ave Maria University Board of Trustees, so the answer to your first question is no, Bishop Frank J. Dewane was not involved in a vote concerning Fr. Fessio’s status. Allow me to add that Bishop Dewane was not consulted on this matter.

Due to the Bishop’s non-voting ex officio status, the answer to your second question is also in the negative [”Did Bishop Dewane vote to remove Fr. Fessio?”].

Please be informed that having just recently been appointed to the Board, Bishop Dewane has not yet even participated in an Ave Maria University Board of Trustees Meeting.

avewatch reported this:

The following is an email from Fr. Joseph Fessio, Ave Maria University’s Theologian-in-Residence and former Provost.

From: Fr. Fessio, S.J.
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 1:54 PM

This morning, (Monday, July 20^th) Dr. Jack Sites, Academic Vice President of Ave Maria University,  flew from Houston, where he was attending a meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, to San Francisco, to inform me personally that I was being dismissed from Ave Maria University. Our meeting was amicable and Dr. Sites, as always, acted as a Christian gentleman.

He said that the reason for my dismissal stemmed from a conversation I had in November of 2008 with Jack Donahue, then chairman of the board of AMU. At that time I felt it an obligation to speak to the board chairman before the upcoming board meeting, to make sure he was aware of the urgency of the university’s financial situation. After I had informed him, using projections based on publicly available documents and statements,  he asked me what I thought was the solution. I told him that there were policies being followed that were at the root of the problem, that the present administration was irrevocably wedded to those policies, and that without a change of administration the university was at great risk.

Dr. Sites said that Jack Donahue related this conversation to Tom Monaghan, and it was decided (I don’t know specifically by whom) that the university could not have a faculty member making these criticisms of the administration and thus undermining the university.

Dr. Sites told me that there were unspecified others who had similar substantive concerns that I was undermining the university.

I continue to support the university. I pray for its success. I have great admiration for the faculty, students, and many of the staff. I do disagree with some of the policies of the administration. This seems to be the reason I was fired the first time, in March 2007, since the official explanation was “irreconcilable administrative differences”.

Nevertheless, I think it is an accurate summary to say that I am being dismissed as a faculty member because of a private conversation with the chairman of the board in which I made known my criticisms of the university administration; and because of allegations which have not been made known to me and to which I have not been given an opportunity to respond.

I will continue to recommend AMU to students and parents. And I will continue to think my dismissal is another mistake in a long series of unwise decisions.

The members of AMUforums.com have started a thread collecting names for a petition. Register and drop your name in!
aveherald reports:

Naples Daily covers the story:

• By ERIC STAATS
• Posted July 20, 2009 at 8:29 p.m.

AVE MARIA — A high-profile Catholic priest and friend of Pope Benedict XVI was fired Monday from his post at Ave Maria University.

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, the university’s theologian-in-residence, has had a rocky relationship with the university — he was fired as university provost in 2007 and then re-hired but demoted a day later after protests from students and an outcry from the orthodox Catholic community.

In an e-mail Monday, Fessio wrote that his second firing stemmed from criticisms he expressed privately last November to AMU Board Chairman Jack Donahue about the university’s financial footing.

“I’ve enjoyed my time there, I think I’ve made a contribution,” Fessio said from the offices of Ignatius Press, a San Francisco-based Catholic publishing house he founded and still runs. “I would have been happy to continue there.”

In a statement late Monday afternoon, the university confirmed it had “ended its formal relationship” with Fessio but did not cite a reason.

“The decision was made by the leadership of the university and supported by its Board of Trustees,” the statement said. “While Fr. Fessio will not be continuing in any capacity at the university, AMU wishes to express its gratitude to him for the assistance that he rendered to the university.”

In his e-mail, Fessio wrote that AMU’s academic vice president Jack Sites flew from a meeting in Houston to San Francisco to inform him that he was being fired. Fessio called the meeting amicable.

Fessio wrote that he told Donahue in November that the present administration at the university was “irrevocably wedded” to policies that were at the root of financial problems at the university and that without a change in administration, the university was “at great risk.”

Speaking later in a telephone interview, Fessio would not be specific. He said he would continue to express his concerns privately, if asked.

More than five years ago, Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan donated $250 million to start the university and invested more than $50 million to develop half of the 5,000-acre town surrounding the school. The plan was to invest the return in the university’s endowment. In February, former Ave Maria University board member Vic Melfa warned that the university’s reliance on the town’s real estate venture and Monaghan’s donation puts Ave Maria “in a more precarious position than most other schools.”

Melfa, a Massachusetts entrepreneur, left the university’s board meeting in February amid questions about whether he resigned or had been removed. He later said he had resigned.

This spring, AMU President Nick Healy said the university is financially sound and cited a financial review by a regional accrediting body.

He said Ave Maria real estate has always been a “major prospective endowment” for the school but that it has never counted on the real estate for university operations.

In his e-mail, Fessio chalked up his firing as “another mistake in a long series of unwise decisions,” but he said he would continue to recommend AMU to students and parents.

Fessio said he doesn’t expect a change of heart by the university administration this time around — and he’s not looking for one.

As word spread Monday of his firing, one faculty member contacted Fessio to offer a show of support akin to 2007, Fessio said.

“I said I think the decision’s been made,” Fessio said. “There’s no use trying to reverse the action.”

Fessio was due back at the university next week to help teach a session to high school students, he said.

He attributed the timing of his firing, during the summer and in between academic years, to university leaders wanting to avoid a repeat of the protests that ensued after his first firing in March 2007.

Fessio was never given a reason for that decision other than “irreconcilable administrative differences,” which he paraphrased from a March 2007 press release.

In an interview with the Daily News a year after his demotion, Fessio said his relationship with AMU President Nick Healy wasn’t tense but he acknowledged liturgical differences of opinion.

Beyond AMU’s campus in rural Collier County, Fessio, a 68-year-old Jesuit priest, is an influential figure as a conservative voice in the Catholic church.

The pope, then the Rev. Joseph Ratzinger, was Fessio’s thesis director at Germany’s University of Regensburg in 1975.

When the pope visited the United States earlier this year, CNN tapped Fessio to provide on-air commentary.

Ignatius Press, which Fessio founded in 1978, is the principal U.S. publisher of the pope’s writings.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Novena Dates  July 7 – 15

Feast Day  July 16

Queen of Carmel, Mother of God and of poor sinners; special protectress of all who wear thy holy Scapular.  I ask thee to obtain for me the pardon of my sins, amendment of my life, salvation of my soul, comfort in my suffering, and particularly, the grace I now ask (mention your request).

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.)

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