DALLAS TWP. — Barely on campus a year, a statue of Sisters of Mercy founder Catherine McAuley became the focal point of concern over staff and faculty cuts at Misericordia University on Monday.
A black band was wrapped around her arm, 41 flags representing 41 fired full-time employees were planted, and students and employees alike took turns laying fresh flowers at the iconic woman’s feet.
Organized by the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the solemn event created a visible expression of faculty concerns regarding extensive cuts at the school in recent months, including 10 faculty who learned this month their contracts would not be renewed.
Members of the Executive Committee of the chapter have voiced multiple concerns about those cuts, the cuts of other staff earlier this year, and the suspension of tenure, warning the moves would weaken the education students are getting, reduce their opportunities to conduct research with full-time faculty, demoralize employees and make recruitment of both students and faculty harder.
Monday’s “vigil,” as the executive committee called it in an email to faculty and staff, was “not a protest, but a chance to come together safely as a community in order to grieve the terminations of our valued colleagues, both staff and faculty.”
About 50 people gathered around the statue, some already with flowers, others receiving flowers if they wanted one. The tiny red flags in the ground simply said “Misericordia University Employee.” Around 12:40 a faculty member wrapped the band around the statue arm, and students and employees alike slowly lined up, face masks on while keeping at least 6 feet apart, to take turns placing flowers at the feet of the bronze statue.
The 350-pound monument was installed last fall, with the official dedication Nov. 6, 2019. McCauley remains a central figure in the school’s professed philosophy. Born to wealth in Ireland, she preferred to help the poor, ultimately giving up her wealth to form the Sisters of Mercy, which in turn founded Misericordia. Faculty members have argued the cuts came at a time when the university has been touting budget surpluses and a fund raising campaign that exceeded its goal by millions.
The executive committee of the AAUP chapter said it had made multiple offers and suggestions to save money amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but that they were ignored.