Journalism department professor William Babcock was dismissed from his position as chairman during a meeting with tenure-track faculty and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Gerry Riposa on Friday morning, according to new acting chairman and journalism professor Raul Reis.
The dismissal, according to some faculty, was attributed to a difference in views over the direction of the department between Babcock and Riposa.
“Overall [the change in department leadership] is not going to be bad for the department,” said one professor present at the meeting. “But this is not how it should happen – too totalitarian.”
Another professor at the meeting noted that “[Riposa] doesn’t have any respect for faculty. [The faculty] expects that if it votes, that [what it votes] will be carried out with haste.”
The meeting came a week after Riposa refused to be present at an open journalism faculty meeting Friday, Sept. 14, which also included students and a local reporter, regarding the future of Daily Forty-Niner. Riposa said later that week that he felt he was inadequately prepared to meet with the press or students regarding the issue.
“This is not related to last week’s meeting,” said Christopher Burnett, a journalism professor present at both Friday meetings. “It would be wrong to say the entire change was because of last week’s meeting.”
Babcock disagreed. “There was no evidence that my leadership has ever been, in anyway, ineffective, nor has Gerry [Riposa] ever indicated to me that there was a problem. … Gerry [Riposa] obviously thinks I should have had control over last week’s meeting.”
Although Babcock was not listed on the e-mail that notified faculty of the regarding “personnel” issues, he was in attendance.
“It occurred to me that I’m a tenured professor,” Babcock said. “This was a meeting for tenured professors. If something is going to be said about me, I’d like to be there.”
Three of the faculty members present at Friday’s meeting are also in an open period evaluation of candidates for retention, tenure and promotion, including Burnett, Jennifer Fleming, Heloiza Herscovitz and Reis, the new department chairman.
There will be an election in the spring for the new chairwoman or chairman of the journalism department. Reis will be serving as chairman until the end of the academic school year.
Reis said that as acting chairman there would be “a lot of learning involved” and that the new position would be “a challenge in many ways.”
“My first allegiance is to the students, then fellow faculty members, then the university and then the community,” Reis said.
As chairman, Reis said he would institute more involvement between the department and the community.
Babcock will still remain active in the department, according to Reis.
Reis also said that part of his new agenda is to create town hall-style meetings that will be open to the university regarding the future of the Daily Forty-Niner.
The first meeting is anticipated to be the week of Oct. 8.
Riposa was not available for comment as of Friday afternoon.
