Three members of FUSA’s Executive Board resigned last week after an encounter with a university official last December left them feeling threatened and their rights allegedly violated.
With Malu Gonzalez ’04, Erin Fredericks ’04 and Chris McGee ’05 gone, FUSA President Kevin Neubauer ’05 is left with only one Cabinet member and a severely diminished Executive Board.
The students said they decided to leave after an incident in which Assistant Dean of Students Matt Dinnan “lost control” and engaged in a yelling match with them in the Barone Campus Center. The incident in question surrounded the dismissal of Donna Schmidt, formerly director of student activities.
Last August, Fairfield hired Schmidt, when the previous director left the position after two years. Schmidt was left with only a month for training.
“Donna’s job was to make sure the Executive Board is run by the books and help come up with activities,” Fredericks, the former External Executive Assistant, said. “I’m sure it was difficult for her to get used to the position with only a month to train, but she was incredibly positive and in my opinion fulfilled all the objectives given to her.”
Dinnan, who is also the head of student activities and others, working for Fairfield, apparently felt otherwise.
“Donna is a wonderful person, but sometimes people are just not the right fit for the job,” Dinnan said.
Word began to spread among FUSA members late in December that Schmidt’s job was in jeopardy.
“We had heard rumors that they were evaluating Donna and had decided to fire her right before break,” former Corresponding Executive Assistant Gonzalez said.
The three students wanted to meet with Schmidt to make sure she knew they did not play a role in her dismissal.
“We met with her at Jazzman’s Caf on Dec. 17 because we had been told she was going to be fired but because of a complete breakdown in communication, she actually hadn’t been told yet,” said McGee, the former Internal Executive Assistant.
McGee first contacted Neubauer to tell him about the meeting, asking the FUSA president not to appear.
“He agreed, so I thought everything was okay,” McGee said.
However, before long Dinnan appeared.
“He came up the stairs and was visibly shaking,” Fredericks said. “He slammed a chair against the table and told us we had to cancel the meeting immediately because Kevin was upset.”
Dinnan laughed at this account of the events but did not deny them.
“There are probably five sides to every story,” Dinnan said. “The fact is that there was a scheduled meeting that was delayed because of them.”
Neubauer acknowledged he called Dinnan after talking with McGee.
“Mr. Dinnan asked that I call him after my scheduled meeting with her [Schmidt],” Neubauer said. “However, I contacted him because our meeting could not begin.”
Dinnan did not stop at slamming chairs, the students said.
“He threatened us with severe consequences if we did not cancel the meeting right away,” Gonzalez said. “When I asked him why he was so upset about the meeting he went crazy and lost control. It was really embarrassing.”
“It degenerated into him yelling at us and us trying to answer back,” McGee said. “By the end Donna was the most upset because she knew now she had lost her job.”
Dinnan confirmed the encounter, but would not elaborate.
“I will say that a discussion ensued at the caf, but cannot get into the particulars,” Dinnan said.
The students feel Dinnan’s interruption was a violation of their rights according to the FUSA constitution and cite Article III: Section 1 which guarantees “the right to assemble to discuss issues” and “express their individual opinions in both a public and private manner.”
Dinnan argued that Schmidt’s discharge is unrelated to FUSA.
“I cannot provide details about her leaving because it is against the law, but it does not involve FUSA,” Dinnan said. “Rumors are bound to happen and the best thing to do is not to assume something has happened without knowing all the details.”
The three resigning Cabinet members were most upset about the lack of communication and lack of student input involved with Schmidt’s dismissal.
“We feel the worst thing about this is the complete lack of communication,” Fredericks said. “No students were consulted about the firing of an integral member of their government. Now there is no one to perform her duties.”
Neubauer acknowledged that it would be difficult to hire someone else for the position in the middle of a school year.
“FUSA is full of talented people and we will continue to fulfill the goals we set last semester,” he said. “All scheduled programming will go on as planned.”
Meanwhile, Dinnan and other graduate assistants will work to take over Schmidt’s duties. Yet the outgoing board members doubt all of the programs they were working on will be able to continue without them.
“There were some activities such as the ski trip to Stratton Mountain and an off-campus jazz concert we were working on with First Selectman Flatto that will probably never get completed,” Fredericks said.
The holes left on the Executive Board will probably remain, as it takes significant time to train new students for the positions and would be difficult to do at this point in the school year.
Dave Catalane ’05, the only remaining member of Neubauer’s Cabinet, knows it will be difficult to move on without them but remains optimistic.
“The resignations by the three students came as disappointing news to me,” the FUSA Treasurer said. “There will be a definite impact on the organization of FUSA as a result of the absence of three key members. But we must move on because it looks to be a busy semester with much planning that needs to be done.”
Both Neubauer and Dinnan said they are unaware of any lingering negative feeling among FUSA staff about Schmidt’s firing, but one high-ranking member, speaking on condition of anonymity, thought the situation was handled poorly.
“I was on the fence about whether to resign or not, but decided to stay,” the member said. “And I know I’m not the only one to feel this way.”
The three students’ concern about a lack of communication in FUSA has not ended with their resignations.
“The whole situation definitely wasn’t communicated clearly to FUSA about the resignations and the firing,” said Matt Ventura ’05, a senator.
On Saturday morning, Jan. 24, FUSA held a meeting attended by roughly 35 people at which Schmidt’s firing and the resignations were first publicly mentioned. Dinnan spoke briefly, saying only that the Director of Student Activities had left. Neubauer then addressed the people and said that because of the resignations he hopes the senate can become involved more.
“Even after the quick explanation, it all seems unclear to me,” Ventura said. “I don’t understand any of the reasons behind all the moves. They really should have emailed us or something to explain it better.”
As FUSA begins work on for the second semester, many questions remain about how they will be able to work without several key positions filled. McGee tried to express his emotions, which are shared by his colleagues who resigned with him, in his letter of resignation addressed to all FUSA members.
“Overall, this whole issue has left me feeling uncomfortable with the organization and those running it. It has made me feel betrayed by people I had placed trust in and people who I respected, and continue to respect,” he wrote. “Most importantly, I have been mistreated, neglected and disrespected.”
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