8/17/96, Burlington Free Press

JANE SANDERS TAKES HELM AT GODDARD

By Tamara Lush - Free Press Staff Writer

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.

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.

In a letter to the board Thursday, President Richard E. Greene resigned as of Jan. 1, 1997.

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.