Brent Baker resigned two months early as dean of the College of Communication on Friday, May 23, and professor Bill Lawson was forced out of his position as chair of the school’s film and television department after making anti-administration remarks at a COM faculty meeting earlier in the month, according to Boston University administrators.
According to BU spokesman Kevin Carleton, Baker was originally planning to resign July 31. However, he was asked to step down earlier by Chancellor John Silber, after Baker alluded to critics of his tenure during his speech at the COM commencement ceremony.
“I know one thing for damn sure,” Baker said at the ceremony. “They’re wrong.”
Along with announcing the resignation of COM associate dean Marilyn Root, Baker also referred to a chapter of Silber’s book “Straight Shooting” that gives advice to college deans. Silber said a dean could obtain a long tenure by not rocking the boat, Baker read, but deans who make changes are more likely to have shorter reigns. Baker said he fell into this latter camp.
“Unfortunately for all parties concerned, the relationship between Baker and the administration continued to deteriorate because of the speech given at graduation, and the resignation date was accelerated,” said professor Robert Zelnick, chair of COM’s journalism department.
Silber and Baker “had a discussion about the school” and “Baker saw fit to offer his resignation” a few weeks before graduation, according to Carleton. Baker’s resignation is part of a “natural cycle,” Carleton said.
“Baker served longer than any other dean in COM,” he said. “When he came to the college he brought some new ideas and made valuable contributions over his tenure as dean. At the same time, questions about the direction of the college are being asked here, parallel with [those asked] at Columbia University.
“What is being called for is a greater balance … a greater range of intellectual content that should be reflected in [COM 101, a course taught by the dean] to a greater extent than previous years,” Carleton continued.
When reached at home, Baker said he could not comment on his early resignation.
Lawson criticized the administration and its plans for the school at a faculty meeting on May 13, referring to Silber, as well as journalism professors Keith Botsford and Joachim Maitre as a “cabal of misfits,” according to The Boston Globe. He was asked to resign his position as chairman, refused, and was fired from the position, according to Zelnick.
“The way Lawson chose to express his sentiments was inconsistent with his remaining as chairman,” Zelnick said. “When you make a quasi-public attack on the people leading the university and your colleagues, it’s very tough to do so from the point of chairman.”
“Ad hominem attacks that could almost be described as paranoid criticism of university are not what is expected of a department chairman,” Carleton said.
Lawson did not return repeated phone messages. He will remain an assistant professor in COM.
Although Zelnick said he thought Lawson’s loss of department chairman was permissible, he differentiated between Lawson’s role as chairman and his role as professor.
“This is a university, not a military organization,” Zelnick said. “A professor has the right to say whatever he wants about anybody. If an attempt had been made to fire Lawson as a professor for remarks at a faculty meeting, I would have opposed it publicly and privately.
“It’s different when you are in the chain of command,” Zelnick continued. “You are responsible for executing the policies of the president and administration, and if a time comes when you can’t accept the policies, you resign. You can’t attack the policies of the administration and be a part of it.”
No one has been appointed yet to fill Lawson’s vacated position, Carleton said.
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