JANE SANDERS TAKES HELM AT GODDARD
Sanders, a longtime education activist who until recently
served as her husband's chief of staff, will be leaving most
of her campaign duties behind to direct the college's operations
during a transitional period.
"It was very difficult to make that choice," said Sanders, a
Goddard alumna who has chaired the college's board of trustees
for three years. "But Goddard is at a crossroads now, and they
have asked me to change my role and facilitate that journey."
Dr. Paul Blanc will replace Sanders as chairman of the board
until the regularly scheduled board elections in September.
Many of the Plainfield college's faculty and students said they
are relieved and ecstatic.
Students and faculty said the democratic, progressive traditions
of the small liberal arts school were threatened by Greene, who
fired 16 faculty and staff in June.
"Greene didn't really understand what the Goddard mission was,"
said alumnus Glenn Berger of Brooklyn, N.Y, who was visiting
the college Friday. "Goddard is an experiment in democratic,
progressive education, and we need to get back to that."
Others spoke more harshly of Greene.
"He and the board have done incredible damage to the school,"
said student Katharine Kavanagh of Montpelier, citing the firings
and low campus morale as examples.
Kavanagh, who is pursuing a master's degree in psychology, said
the news of Greene's resignation leaves her with many unanswered
questions.
"I'm here on campus, but I feel like I'm walking on the corpses
of those that have been fired," she said. "Those that were fired
in an unethical, immoral way - will they have jobs in three weeks?
Will the school work the way it's supposed to?"
In a letter to the board, Greene addressed some of the controversial
changes he made while the college's top administrator. "I recognize
some of the changes and decisions were difficult, but a small college
like Goddard cannot survive in the 1990s unless it has a sound fiscal
basis," he wrote.
Greene also told the board he wanted to give them ample time to
find a successor and give himself time to "explore new opportunities
and challenges."
Some in the close-knit Goddard community were upset with Greene's
decision to use telemarketers and offer tuition bargains to attract students.
"I'm here on campus, but I feel like I'm
walking on the corpses of those that have been fired." KATHARINE
KAVANAGH, Goddard student
Greene's critics said he also did not consult teachers, staff or the
students about the firings or this year's budget.
Students and faculty said the firings would
eliminate entire majors.
Some said the firings were in retailiation for
union organizing activities. In June, Greene denied all charges.
In July, Goddard College professional staff took the first steps toward
forming a union.
About 180 people are enrolled in Goddard's off-campus programs, and 140
others are resident undergraduates.
Members of the Goddard community are hopeful that the school will go
back to the way it was.
"Our charge, our responsibility is to bring Goddard out of the ashes
again and make it into the school we know it's supposed to be,"
Kavanagh said.
Jane O'Meara Sanders, wife and re-election campaign staffer
of U.S. Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt, will become provost of
Goddard College immediately in the wake of the
resignation of the school's
beleaguered president.
In a letter to the board Thursday, President Richard E. Greene
resigned as of Jan. 1, 1997.
