Students Protest Ouster of Law School Dean

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Jan. 26, 2009 -- A Duquesne University employee peeked out from an office door frame; she could hear the sounds swelling. She looked down the corridor toward the front doors.

"The protesters are here," she said, ducking back into her office.

Outside, more than 100 students had turned out to protest the removal of Don Guter as dean of the law school.

The demonstration, in front of the "Old Main" administrative building, came a week after Vanessa Browne-Barbour, the associate dean of the law school, resigned, calling Guter's removal a "grievous injustice."

The protesters' main complaint was that the university, especially President Charles J. Dougherty, had ignored the formal reappointment process for deans, which calls upon an internal law school committee to review a dean's performance.

Instead, they claim, Dougherty dismissed Guter before that committee had the chance to review his tenure.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that in December, Guter was given 24 hours to resign as dean or be removed. He remains a member of the faculty.

Guter, who had been dean since 2005, has been credited with helping raise students' first-time bar-passage rate to 97 percent. Supporters say that the president held a grudge against Guter because of disputes over law school funds and personnel matters.

Late Wednesday, Dougherty sent a letter to the law school faculty saying that Guter had failed "to perform as a part of the university's administrative team and to effectively manage the school." Dougherty said that Guter "could not and would not accept" that responsibility, so "there was no alternative to removing him as dean."

'We Want Our Dean Back'

Third-year law student Logan Fischer summed up the mood of the demonstration.

"The goal of the protest is for the president and the whole community -- the whole Pittsburgh community -- to know of our views, that we're not happy, that we want a change. We want our dean back," said Fischer.

According to university spokeswoman Bridget Fare, the protest "will have no impact on the decision or the board and corporation's support of the president." Dougherty was attending an off-campus meeting during the protest, Fare said.

It is the second time in less than two years that students have protested on behalf of law school students and faculty.

In 2007, students protested Dougherty's decision to deny tenure for law professor John Rago. On Wednesday, he stood with a group of university faculty members and watched the protesters from across the street. "It looks terribly familiar," he said.

In a speech to the crowd, Student Bar Association president Brandon Neuman said, "The main reason we're here today is because we do want answers and we deserve answers. That's all we're asking. We may not like the truth. But the way Dean Guter was treated -- he was treated like a criminal and I know he's not a criminal."

Call Unanswered

Shortly after his statement, Neuman attempted to call Guter, who was in Washington, D.C. Guter did not respond to the call, although Neuman held up the phone so protesters could scream messages of support onto his voice mail.

Among the many protesters was Pat Guter, a student in the law school and the wife of Don Guter.

Students are "tired of being harassed, tired of resources being taken away, tired of being dismissed, tired of the school not being able to proceed [with] more academic progress," Pat Guter said.

Once word reached the crowd that Dougherty was not on campus, the group marched to the front of Trinity Hall, where they made a plea to the Spiritan priests and shouted, "Let's practice what we preach."

In a Facebook group titled "Save Dean Guter," the group's mission is, "the reappointment of Dean Don Guter" and "the firing of President Charlie Dougherty." The group has amassed 455 members.

The student association's vice president, Collin Morgan, said the group was a tool to rally support.

Organizers also widely distributed fliers on campus. The flier's title, "The Sins of Charlie Dougherty," was an anonymous list that made allegations attempting to discredit Dougherty professionally and personally.

University Provost Ralph Pearson called the flyer "outrageous and nonsensical" in an e-mail to colleagues Tuesday.

"The accusers make a misguided attempt to shield themselves with the university's 'ideals and mission,' as if the core principles of Duquesne University could ever justify patent falsehoods and vicious personal attacks," Pearson wrote.

The Chronicle of Education quoted Don Guter as saying that the university's provost had informed him before his ouster that he needed to demonstrate "absolute obedience" and loyalty to the administration.

Response to Protest

In a statement Wednesday night, Dougherty responded to the protest and the flier.

"Because of my dedication to students, it was disappointing to see yesterday's demonstration. But I know that students were there because of lies told about me by a few malicious people. I assure students that if what was falsely said about me had been true, I would have been demonstrating with them. But it is not true. And I look forward to continuing my long positive relationship with students for the good of Duquesne University and our mission," he said.