From left: Christine Harrington, professor of politics; Marie Monaco, professor of neuroscience; Mary Nolan, professor of history.
Friday evening just before spring break was the quietest night on campus. Bobst library, packed with midterm throngs the whole week prior, stood nearly vacant. On the twelfth floor, the office of President John Sexton was ending a busy week as well. NYU had taken significant heat for a shady bonus doled out to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew when he was NYU’s VP of Operations. Then there were the multi-million dollar homes financed by the university. And now there was the vote of no confidence, which targeted Sexton personally.
A half-block away on MacDougal Street, around a dozen NYU professors sat in the basement of an Italian café awaiting the outcome of the vote they’d campaigned for for months. The professors were members of the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS), joined by a few allies from other schools within NYU, but all in favor of the cause: they wanted Sexton out.
At 6p.m. that evening, the week-long vote of no confidence conducted by FAS came to a close. By 6:09p.m., the anonymous electronic ballots were tallied, and screams erupted from the cluster of tables at La Lanterna café. The vote had passed. The café owner, Vittorio Antonini (who has his own $7 million gripe with NYU), brought out champagne for the crowd.
Professor Patrick Deer (English) shakes hands with Professor Mark Crispin Miller (Media Studies)
Of the 682 eligible FAS professors, 569 cast their votes, amounting to just over 83% participation. The majority of them–298 professors–voted ‘agree,’ indicating that they did not have confidence in John Sexton in his capacity as president of the university. 224 voted in favor of the president, and 47 professors abstained from the vote. The motion of no confidence was passed by the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Professor Rebecca Karl teaches history at NYU. She specializes in East Asian and Chinese studies, “So I’m familiar with tyrannical and dictatorial rule,” she said, laughing. Karl gestured towards Mary Nolan, a professor specializing in European and American modern history. “So she knows about empires in the making,” Karl said, and winked. She said she hoped NYU’s trustees would recognize this vote as an indication that Sexton should no longer hold office. Both professors are members of the elected Faculty Senators council, which represents faculty in dealings with the administration.
Professor Patrick Deer (English) and Professor Andrew Ross (SCA)
Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU, is among the most vocal opponents of the president. After the vote passed, he stood with a Corona and clinked bottles with smiling colleagues.
“Most academics don’t really think about anything other than their own careers. That’s changing at NYU now. I think this is really just a first step,” Ross said. He thinks Sexton should resign, but says he knows that won’t happen, because “it would be out of character” for the president. But it may be just a matter of time.
“It’s very rare that a university president resigns immediately in response to a faculty vote of no confidence. Usually it takes a little while,” Ross said, referencing no confidence vote that preceded the resignation of Harvard president Lawrence Summers in 2006. “But at high profile universities they usually don’t survive votes of no confidence. They sometimes do at smaller less-high-profile universities where there’s much more autocratic forms of government from above. But at a place like this I’d be very surprised.”
Professor Christine Harrington (Politics)
Sexton responded to the vote with a statement acknowledging steps the administration has taken towards incorporating faculty concerns. The trustees also issued a statement “strongly affirming” their support in the president.
For now, there are several other votes of no confidence in the works. UCATS, the union of the 14,000 non-teaching employees of NYU, is holding a vote right now. According to sources, Tisch and Steinhardt are currently discussing the possibility of being the next schools to hold votes of their own. We’ll keep you updated as this develops.
Bo Riccobono, adjunct professor and vice chairperson of local community board 2 (which really hates NYU 2031) with Mark Crispin Miller and Andrew Ross
For a look back at all of our No Confidence coverage, click here.
Photographs by Nadia Hassan
