Suffolk prez to fight her firing
Suffolk University’s abrupt firing of President Margaret McKenna reignited the bitter leadership drama dogging the Boston campus, with McKenna ripping the board of trustees last night and vowing to fight their “unfair” decision.
McKenna’s dismissal — first reported by the Herald yesterday — came after a months-long investigation into the president’s spending and emails that revealed she urged a powerful accrediting agency to launch a review into the board’s governance practices.
Sources said McKenna was informed of the unanimous vote to fire her and her chief of staff after an emergency meeting where trustees were briefed on the report by outside counsel Daniel Goldberg, who was hired after former Suffolk PR maven George Regan made accusations against McKenna.
The most explosive findings in the report were emails and interviews that showed McKenna was in constant contact with an official at the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which slammed Suffolk’s board for not enacting reform measures, sources said. Trustees felt McKenna’s action could have jeopardized Suffolk’s accreditation.
The report also found that McKenna’s office had contacted Attorney General Maura Healey to push for a review of the board’s practices, sources said. Healey’s office later issued a report faulting the trustees for the leadership split at Suffolk.
McKenna last night issued a statement confirming the accreditation issue with NEASC was one of the reasons she was given for her firing. But she said the board failed to support any of the allegations of improper spending made by Regan that led to the investigation.
“The investigation found absolutely no evidence of any financial misconduct of any kind,” she said. “I believe this termination is unfair and, in pursuit of the truth, I plan to pursue a mediation process.”
McKenna also alleged the “entrenched interests” on the board continued to “undermine” her even after she agreed earlier this year to resign by the fall of 2017, part of a negotiated agreement with board chairman Andrew Meyer that was supposed to end the long soap opera over McKenna that caused major damage to Suffolk’s public image.
The board’s initial attempt to fire McKenna failed when the Herald reported on the board’s allegations against her and students and faculty rallied to her defense.
“The last six months have been among the most difficult of my professional life,” McKenna said. “I have been disheartened by the violations of basic process and the negative impact on the truly outstanding Suffolk academic community. Suffolk University most assuredly deserves better.”
A spokesman for the board last night did not return calls to respond to McKenna’s statement. New chairman Robert C. Lamb sent an internal message earlier announcing “a change in leadership” and McKenna’s departure but would not even acknowledge she was fired.
“The board of trustees thanks her for her service,” Lamb said, saying that Provost Marisa Kelly was named acting president. The board has also launched a search for a permanent president — who would be Suffolk’s sixth in the last six years.