Monaghan Security Watches Professor
When Ave Maria School of Law's Dean Bernard Dobranski dumped beloved co-founder and Professor Emeritus Charles Rice, he shipped Rice's office to him by UPS Next Day Service. It was a petty act, to the point of laughable, for the irrational paranoia that it uncovered.
Add to that the following from 27 Sept. 2007:
Seated is Stephen Safranek, the AMSL co-founder and tenured professor who was recently suspended without pay - an act that triggered vigorous protest by the AMSL Alumni Association Board, a majority of the AMSL alumni (see also 1,2), and by a group of prominent Catholic legal scholars. Safranek is being watched in his AMSL office by security guards from Domino's Farms, employees of Tom Monaghan. Safranek was banned from campus at the start of the semester in a systematic attempt to purge the campus of those who would point-out the institution's gross mismanagement (see also 1,2; summary here). AMSL's administration is currently under investigation for violations of accreditation standards.
Ave watch, indeed. What's next, bugged rooms? Is this more of Dobranski's twisted idea of "conditions adequate to attract and retain a competent faculty"?
This is what happens to those Ave Maria employees who stop putting their faith in a failed system dominated by tight central control. It is conservative Catholic scholars, not liberals or heretics, who are now the ones labeled by Monaghan as "academic terrorists". Legitimate respectful objection makes you a "terrorist" to be put under surveillance. What price is the Catholic community willing to pay before it realizes that no amount of money and control from an ostentacious billionaire with a high school diploma can realize the mission of the Church in higher education? Violating human dignity is not necessary to promote human dignity. Those who are anxious to view Monaghan as a savior and protector of Catholic principles must start realizing that "domestic tyranny" is as great as any threat from outside the Church.
UPDATE, 10/2/07 - Visitors to Fumare have offered first-hand accounts to corroborate the aforementioned. Also, from Fumare's comment box, former Ave Maria College Dean Dr. Christopher Beiting had this to say:
I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned the fact that Dobranski has long had a hidden camera in his office, monitered by Security in Domino's Farms. I learned it through one of my former students at AMC, who worked for Alpha Omega for a while, and was surprised, to say the least, to discover it. If memory serves, Dobranski even acknowledged this fact when asked about it in one of these town meetings of his.
So. Security teams AND hidden cameras. All combined with a prediliction for making people "unpersons" when they step out of line. And all of this in a setting where people still have to answer to regular law agencies. Now, riddle me this, what are things going to be like in Avemariaville, with its special administrative district status, where those mountebanks will *control* the law? What will life be like in a town where something like Alpha Omega security will really BE the police?
In the beginning of my fight to help preserve AMC, I never wished for AMU to fail, and I resent Monaghan for assuming that I and others were so motivated when we weren't, let alone characterizing us as "academic terrorists". But now? Oh, heck yeah. As nearly as I can tell, Avemariaville will develop with the worst features of a bananna republic and Calvin's Geneva, though absent the high-quality education.
You want to see the future of Avemariaville, folks?
Take a good, hard look at the Avewatch picture of Safranek.
Now ask youself whether you want yourself, or anyone you love, to live under such conditions.
Contact AveWatch if you have first hand knowledge of excesses or irregularities in Tom Monaghan's oversight of security.
Catholic Legal Scholars Spank AMSL
Excerpts:
"The AMSL administration has violated several procedural norms of the secular academy. In this case, we see no tension between those norms and the norms of faith and reason that should guide a Catholic law school. Indeed, what has happened at AMSL appears to us to violate core Catholic norms."
"In suspending the one tenured and two untenured faculty members, AMSL has deprived them of the dignity of their work – their vocation – without adequate process. And, in suspending the tenured faculty member without pay, AMSL has failed to take into account the well-being of that faculty member’s family."
"By the failure to live their Christian commitment, the AMSL Dean and Board cause scandal in the legal, academic, and religious communities. This scandal is exacerbated by the fact that their actions are taken on behalf of a law school named for the Blessed Mother of Christ."
Signatories:
+ Robert John Araujo, S.J., Boston College Jesuit Community
+ Stephen M. Bainbridge, William D. Warren Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
+ Thomas C. Berg, St. Ives Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Patrick McKinley Brennan, John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies, Villanova University School of Law
+ Richard W. Garnett, John Cardinal O’Hara, CSC Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
+ Elizabeth R. Kirk, Associate Director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture (formerly a member of the Ave María Law School faculty)
+ Eduardo M. Peñalver, Associate Professor, Cornell University Law School
+ Michael J. Perry, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
+ Mark A. Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
+ Michael A. Scaperlanda, Gene and Elaine Edwards Family Chair in Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law
+ Elizabeth R. Schiltz, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Steven Shiffrin, Charles Frank Reavis, Sr. Professor of Law, Cornell University Law School
+ Gregory Sisk, Orestes A. Brownson Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Susan J. Stabile, Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Robert K. Vischer, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
This is a very important pivotal moment that shows the true unity that uniquely binds both Catholic scholars and the community of academic legal professionals. Let's see if the as-of-yet-silent "Fellowship of Catholic Scholars" shows a fraction of the character and authentic fellowship on display at Mirror of Justice.
How many good people - from students, to employees, to estranged colleagues, to well-respected professionals in the field - how many need to shout "Enough!" before Tom Monaghan puts his pride aside and recognizes that he is destroying the very thing that he claims to be upholding?
Mirror of Justice - full text | Fumare - commentary
UPDATE, 9/13/2007 - Frontpage headlines in today's issue of The Wanderer (subscription required): "At Ave Maria Law School.. Professor 'Terminated' For 'Touching' Secretary". It discusses the railroading of AMSL co-founder and tenured Professor Stephen Safranek [1,2], and quotes heavily from Fumare's comments [1,2].
UPDATE, 9/14/2007 - Media coverage about the Mirror of Justice statement is spreading: Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, Naples Daily News (syndicated to Bonita News and Marco News), Catholic News Agency, ABA Journal [1,2], Brian Leiter's Law School Reports, Professor Bainbridge, Univ. of Cincinnati's TaxProf, Professor Greg Reynolds' Instapundit, Mark Shea, PrawfsBlawg,
5pm - add Commweal Magazine blog, Blast Furnace Canada blog
Fabricating An Air of Sexual Harassment
SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas endorsed Ave Maria School of Law at the beginning in 1999. Since then, he has remained its friend and offered speeches and lectures. Maybe Thomas will call the Dean to remind him about the disgrace that goes with weak allegations of physical/sexual harassment and the attempt to derail one's career:
"This is a circus. It's a national disgrace. And from my standpoint as a black American, as far as I'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the US Senate rather than hung from a tree."
- Clarence Thomas; October 11, 1991, speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Anita Hill allegations
Dean Dobranski's perverted twisting of an AMSL staffer's complaint is no less a lynching on Professor Safranek; whether intentional or not, Dobranski's fabricated air of sexual harassment seems clear to any fair-minded person. Safranek and the faculty who "deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas" know all too well that "unless you kowtow to an older order, this is what will happen to you".
This is an affront to higher education, both Catholic and legal. It is also an affront to victims and justice. The Dean's ludicrious interpretation of the complaint discredits the efforts and stories of women who have been - and will be - real victims of physical/sexual harassment and workplace intimidation.
If this incident is an example of the accuracy and objectivity of Dobranski to act as unaccountable fact-finder and judge, how can anyone trust as credibile his behavior and decisions in the "Boys Cherries" incident where civil and canoncial authorities were frustrated in their investigation? (background here; series here). How much of Dobranski's slick and twisted lawyerly wordsmithing is imbedded in his explanation of the matter? AveWatch already demonstrated that much of the explanation was empty. But how many more half-truths and airs are there? For example, when Dobranski says that (emphasis added) "no Law School employee" ever "handled, touched, or possessed" the pornographic hard drive, does that mean that a non-employee at AMSL, like a student, may have done so? This is the level of scrutiny and skepticism that any statement from Ave Maria must be subjected to for an accurate portrayal of a situation. It is no wonder that AMSL co-founder and former Board member Charles Rice called for an independent investigation of the matter.
[clip from AMSL's 2007-2007 Prospectus and
Application]
Intimidation and Uninvited Touching?
You decide. AveWatch shows what is said to be a key basis for Ave Maria School of Law Dean Bernard Dobranski's actions against co-founder and tenured professor Stephen Safranek. Click here or "More.." below. Will you come to the same conclusion?
UPDATE, 8/29/2007 -
+ WhoseAMSOL has an insightful analysis of the timing and policies involved
+ Fumare has commentary
UPDATE, 8/30/2007 -
+ be sure to read Part II: "Fabricating An Air of Sexual Harassment"
+ comment from AW visitor: "Next month Dean Dobranski, as the president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, will be chairing the annual meeting of that organization around the theme "The Idea of the Catholic University for the Twenty-First Century". One may as well have asked John Geoghan to lead a discussion of the pastoral counseling of youth."
+ hat-tip to Brian Leiter's Law School Reports for link
+ hat-tip to Mirror of Justice for link "Just when I thought things couldn't get worse"More...
AMSL Co-Founder Rice Issues Statement
August 15, 2007
What Monaghan and Dobranski have done and are doing at Ave Maria School of Law [AMSL] is objectively evil and contrary to Catholic social teaching. No good will come of it. In my opinion, Monaghan and Dobranski, without procedural or substantive justification, have taken the livelihoods of honest and competent professors, with large families, whose commitment to AMSL is, in my opinion, greater than that of either Monaghan or Dobranski. The dismissal of the faculty members is part of a process that can fairly be described, in a non-technical and non-criminal sense, as a hijacking of AMSL by Monaghan and Dobranski. Those who signed on with Dobranski to take the jobs of those unjustly discharged are materially cooperating in evil. Perhaps some were impelled by their own economic circumstances. I offer no personal judgment on any of them or on Monaghan and Dobranski. But I would surely advise any interested parties that it makes sense not to have anything to do with any enterprise in which either Monaghan or Dobranski is even slightly involved. The actions of Monaghan and Dobranski may have made AMSL a terminal case. Its potential has been undermined by the subordination of its interests to other interests and by the subservience of its misnamed Board of Governors to that subordination. The Governors who should have performed their fiduciary duty to AMSL are somewhere in the tall grass to which they lit out when choosing time occurred. I emphasize that I offer no judgment on the motivations or purpose of them or of Monaghan and Dobranski. But it is fair to say that their actions and inactions, in objective terms, are reprehensible, immoral and despicable.
Fumare - comments
UPDATE, 8/15/2007 - America's oldest continuously published national Catholic weekly, The Wanderer, has (again) put the governance of AMSL on its front page (for the week beginning August 16). The large 2-page article chronicles facts and statements quite well. The newspaper states that it covers news "from an orthodox Catholic perspective". Again, AW points-out that the orthodox conservative Catholic base that Monaghan worked in the past is now in open revolt against his practices.
InsideHigherEd: Purge at Ave Maria Law
Excerpts:
Safranek said that the law school’s leadership has abandoned not only academic freedom, but Catholic teachings about the dignity of individuals and the importance of treating one another with basic respect. “They are the ones who don’t believe what the faith has to teach,” he said. “We are really the ones trying to maintain the Catholic identity of the institution. They want it to be an offshoot of the Republican Party.”
It’s not only Safranek who has felt punished for speaking out. Richard Myers, a professor of law who was also among the original faculty members, said that when professors voted no confidence in the dean last year and disagreed on the move to Florida, retribution started quickly. Myers was removed from his committee chairmanships and replaced with non-tenured faculty members, even though the posts had traditionally gone to senior scholars. His salary was frozen.
Myers said that one question the ABA and others should consider is the role of the faculty — in whatever state Ave Maria resides. “Is the school a real academic institution where faculty have a role, or is it run on a corporate, sole proprietorship model, where the school is run from top down and faculty are interchangeable employees?”
UPDATE, 8/9/2007 - The Wall Street Journal's law blog picked-up the story late this afternoon.
Dean Runs Amok - Faculty Dumped
Still not convinced that the Law School's administration protects its supporters and dumps those who question it?
Consider the booting of co-founder and Professor Emeritus Charles Rice from the School's Board and faculty - an instance in which (one year ago) the administration went so far as to mail Rice's AMSL office to him rather than allow him on campus during the summer.
Consider another contrast. Co-founder and tenured Professor Stephen Safranek is not only subjected to termination proceedings on thin grounds, but this father of 7 is also suspended without pay and locked-out of his office and email. Compare this to Fr. Michael Orsi, the School's Chaplain and bullhorn-in-residence for supporting Monaghan and Dobranski. Without the Dean's knowledge, Orsi offers the institution's computer resources to help a local priest investigated by the state and Diocese for computer-based child pornography. The Dean finds-out about the help months after the fact - and not from Orsi, but from another employee. That triggers an extensive, and expensive, internal investigation. Meanwhile, Orsi sits next to the Dean week after week, repeatedly making outrageous statements about rape, the culpability of minors, and discrimination on the radio. And for all this, Orsi receives neither a reprimand nor sanction.
Who do Chairman Monaghan and Dean Dobranski think they're fooling?
Finally it should be noted that the 4 men dumped upon by Ave Maria (Rice, Safranek, and the two professors denied tenure) are, when taken together, fathers to 26 children.
UPDATE, 8/9/2007 - The two faculty members purged by AMSL administration have released a statement [hat-tip to Fumare]. They learned just yesterday that the administration put them on "leave of absence"; they will not teach in the upcoming Fall semester. Imagine being an Ave Maria student - whether a new student or a rising student ready for mentor - and learning that THREE of your professors were booted just weeks before classes start. What school with any shred of decency dumps professors in August?
Dean Runs Amok - Faculty Speak
Excerpt: "Although the suspension [of Safranek] appears unjust in itself, the Dean's chosen procedures are absolutely lacking in even the veneer of fundamental fairness or due process norms. Indeed, the suspension occurred without deliberation by the full Board of Governors, without faculty consultation, without due process, and without any meaningful explanation as to why the circumstances satisfy the relevant standard of an "extraordinary" case. This abuse of this procedure has effectively stripped Professor Safranek, a husband and father of seven children, of the very security that tenure is supposed to afford faculty members at law schools appproved by the American Bar Association. In our view, these actions (and many others) reveal the extent to which this adminsitration has betrayed the Law School's Mission."
Mirror of Justice full text
UPDATE: Fumare has a helpful graphic to keep track of the incredible shrinking Law School Board of Governors
Dean Runs Amok - Alumni Speak
Alumni Board statement excerpt: Suppression of disagreement is a gravely erroneous basis for terminating a tenured faculty member at a Catholic academic institution. The administration's and Board's views do not command ethical, moral, or religious assent for a Catholic professor. Prominent professors at other law schools have publicly called attention to our school's treatment of disagreeing faculty.
Alumni Board Statement at Fumare
Dean Runs Amok
Tonight, multiple unconfirmed reports to AveWatch state that Professor Safranek has now been banned from access to his office, the Law School grounds, and his School email account - all without being formally terminated and without due process. His pay and benefits will, apparently, be suspended in September.
Any faculty, staff, students, alumni, or Board members who wish to make a statement can do so through AveWatch's contact form.
Contrast the treatment of co-founders Charles Rice (Professor Emeritus) and Stephen Safranek to that of Chaplain Fr. Michael Orsi. How is it that someone like Orsi - who has behaved with shocking carelessness [1,2,3] and invited controversy upon the Law School - receives not even a reprimand or sanction from Dean Dobranski nor Chairman Monaghan? It is no coincidence that Chaplain Orsi is reported to be the loudest non-administration "yes man" for Monaghan on AMSL's campus. This is the Ave Maria culture on display for the world to see - If you put duty to Tom Monaghan's whim above every other duty and obligation, you will be protected. If you say that duty to Mr. Monaghan is not synonymous with duty to institutional "mission", then you become a target. That is the internal rot bred by an institution laiden with administrative conflict-of-interest.
It is time for the Board of Governors at Ave Maria School of Law, and the School's entire community, to stop this embarrassment and say "Enough."
Fumare comments here and here
UPDATED, 7/29/2007 - statement released by Professor Kevin Lee (click 'More..' below)
UPDATED, 7/30/2007 - letter of suspension from Dobranski (released by Fumare) confirms the aforementionedMore...
Students/Alumni Rise for Safranek
Excerpt from one letter:
I have no comprehension why a man who has sacrificed and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the students of Ave Maria would be subjected to a less than dignified removal. If these rumors are in fact true, I would sincerely hope that you and the rest of the administration would look at your own actions in light of our law school’s mission. I have now observed countless criticisms by this administration charged at alumni and the alumni group I have now become a part of at attempting to destroy the law school. If speaking up for the proper respect and human dignity of those within our community is wrong, then I went to the wrong law school or went to one where the mission has become nothing more than merely words with no meaning. I believe that not to be the case, but I would consider such an act against Professor Safranek to be an act in a reign of terror and a seriously flawed application of the mission of Ave Maria within its own administration.
Click below to read some of the letters sent to AMSL Dean Bernard Dobranski. Also of interest is Dobranski's response to these concerned students and alumni.
UPDATE, 7/8/2007 - More letters are coming-in to AveWatch. Visitors - please take the time to read them. These young articulate Catholic lawyers ARE "the mission" of the Law School... and now that mission speaks as a powerful testament to AMSL's administration. More...
Dean Retaliates Against Whistleblower
On Monday, Ave Maria School of Law's Dean Bernard Dobranski attempted to censure and begin dismissal proceedings against tenured professor Stephen J. Safranek, a founder of the school. Professor Safranek was involved with the faculty's complaint to the school's accreditor, has filed a complaint with law enforcement against Dobranski, and recently called for a renewal of the faculty's earlier "vote of no confidence" in governance.
Professor Safranek has worked in prestigious law firms, and clerked for Judge O'Scannlain on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has been admitted to practice before federal courts, including the US Supreme Court. He has numerous publications and is the Executive Director and Founder of The True Marriage Project, an extension of Safranek's interest in "helping to ensure the survival and growth of the institution most critical to society, the family".
Safranek is in good company. Recall that another Law School founder, Professor Emeritus Charles Rice of Notre Dame, was also terminated by Dobranski and booted from the Law School Board for questioning institutional governance and the legality of Monaghan's proposed Florida town concept. Ave Maria's history of firing whistleblowers is well-known.
More will be posted as this story develops. See Fumare for commentary here and here.
UPDATE, 6/28 - A friendly hat-tip goes to Mirror of Justice for picking-up this story. It is worth noting that the Mirror of Justice post was made by Mark A. Sargent, the Dean of the Villanova University School of Law for the past ten years.
UPDATE, 8/1 - for a summary of all AveWatch.org posts on Professor Safranek, click here.