Faculty at Texas Catholic school throw fit over relocation of pride flag, start no-confidence vote
Faculty at St. Edward’s University initiated the procedure for a no-confidence vote over the university president’s decision to relocate a pride flag from a campus coffee shop.
Though the president gave in to the activists’ demands, the vote of no-confidence will continue, with faculty citing other alleged problems in the president’s leadership.
Faculty members at St. Edward’s University, a Catholic school in Austin, Texas, are currently considering a vote of no confidence regarding university president Montserrat Fuentes, following a measure passed by the Faculty Senate on March 1 to initiate this evaluation, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The decision came following the university’s initial refusal to bring back a pride flag to a coffee shop in the school that had previously been relocated when the coffeehouse was undergoing renovations, triggering students’ calls for a vote of no confidence.
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The relocation of the flag sparked protests from students on campus this February, as Campus Reform previously reported.
“The student activists purchased 1,000 pride flags and displayed them near Equity Hall, the new location of the relocated flag. . . . More than 800 individuals have signed a petition that was launched on Feb. 16 to bring back the flag to the cafe,” Campus Reform wrote.
One student claimed that “Meadows Coffeehouse is where everyone goes, and that’s originally where [the flag] was. And they moved it all the way to Equity [Hall], where nobody goes except the students of the Behavioral and Social Sciences School,” as reported on KVUE.
Though Fuentes apologized for the decision and returned the flag back to the coffee shop following the faculty’s initiation of consideration for a vote of no confidence, faculty members seem intent on continuing with the vote, citing other alleged problems with Fuentes’s leadership, related the American-Statesman.
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Louie Moore, a St. Edward’s student and president of PRIDE SEU, said he cried in reaction to the Faculty Senate’s decision to begin proceedings for a no-confidence vote and added: “I’m so happy that this movement has gained so much traction. I’m so happy that this movement started such a big thing,” according to the American-Statesman.
Campus Reform has contacted St. Edward’s University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.