Mount St. Mary's University president quits, apparently in part because of attempts to fire professors for criticizing him

Mount St. Mary's President Simon Newman, center, on Feb. 15. (Bill Green/The News-Post via Associated Press)

As I noted last month, Mount St. Mary's University fired two professors who participated in criticizing university President Simon Newman. (All that stemmed from Newman's "You just have to drown the bunnies . . . put a Glock to their heads" statement, in case that jogs your memory; if it doesn't, read the post for more.)

The firings were being rescinded, but in any event, this week the news came that President Newman has resigned; read Susan Svrluga's article in the Post (Grade Point), which gives much more of the backstory. (Newman's actions may have been see as jeopardizing the university's reaccreditation.) Sounds like the right outcome; Newman might have had various merits, but he seems to have had some basic misunderstandings about academic freedom, which is a pretty important feature of the modern university.

Thanks to Paul Alan Levy for the pointer.