Mount Saint Mary's Update

Back in February, we discussed the resignation of Mount Saint Mary's President Simon Newman (a businessman who compared marginal students to bunnies and recommended shooting or drowning them -- metaphorically, of course -- lest they mess up the all-important retention metrics).  It appears that the the university now has a new (interim) president: An Army general, as news outlets that took notice were quick to emphasize. 

Fortunately, it turns out that Gen. Timothy Trainor might also be described as an experienced academic; he's spent the last 15 years as a professor, department chair, and dean at West Point. It even looks like he's spent some relatively recent time in the classroom (albeit with a very disciplined student body).  And he talks about listening and learning before acting:

"Early on I'm going to focus on engaging and learning," Trainor said. "I have a lot to learn about the institution but I want to engage with the different constituencies there early on to learn their hopes and aspirations."

At the very least, I don't think he'll talk about putting Glocks to student's heads, even metaphorically, because, even if they have MBAs, people with actual training and experience in the appropriate use of firearms seem considerably less likely to say that sort of thing than businessman who are just throwing around metaphors.  

--Cassandra