On Saturday night, at a charity gala celebrating his 25th anniversary as president of Saint Louis University, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi announced his retirement, to the surprise of both supporters and detractors.
Even Biondi's harshest critics cannot deny his long list of achievements over the past quarter century running the school. His biography on the university website includes a bulleted list of 21 successes; add it all up, and the school has grown and improved in just about every possible way under Biondi's leadership.
During his tenure, SLU has completed massive fundraising campaigns, more than doubled the size of campus, built the $82-million Edward A. Doisy Research Center and the $81-million Chaifetz Arena, increased its endowment and credit rating, grown enrollment while decreasing the student-to-teacher ratio, raised the average ACT score of incoming freshman, and generally amplified the school's prestige and profile with a series of ratings (SLU is classified as a research institution by the Carnegie Foundation), rankings (two dozen undergraduate and graduate programs have been in U.S News & World Report's top 100), and firsts (appointing the first female provost at any Jesuit university).
And Biondi has had an impact on the city at large, too. He's been a civic leader, a driving force behind the redevelopment of not only SLU's Midtown campus, but also the surrounding area and Grand Center. He spearheaded plans to move the university's School of Law downtown. At one point or another, he's been on the boards of nearly every major St. Louis institution, from the art museum to the zoo. The president of Italy has even given him the title "Cavaliere, Order of Merit, Republic of Italy."
But in recent years, faculty members and students have turned against the president, protesting his hard-charging, uncompromising leadership style and lamenting a lack of input on major decisions. The roots of the conflict can probably be traced to 2009, if not earlier. That year, administrators, led by then interim provost Manoj Patankar, decided to reorganize the graduate school, upsetting the faculty senate, who said they weren't adequately consulted.
The current confrontation began in earnest last August, when Patankar, who had risen to vice president of academic affairs, ruffled feathers again, with a proposal to rework the system for evaluating faculty. The plan would have made it more difficult for professors to maintain tenure. An uproar resulted, and the proposal was dropped. But damage was done; in September, the faculty voted no-confidence in Patankar and asked Biondi to fire him. Meanwhile, Annette Clark, the dean of the law school, abruptly resigned, citing a series of grievances against Biondi. He said she would have been fired anyway.
Biondi refused to fire Patankar, however, though he did announce plans to study concerns on campus. In October, the faculty voted no-confidence in Biondi himself (with a 51-4 vote), asking the board of trustees to fire him. Students followed suit. In November, the trustees and faculty senate worked out a six-point plan to open communication. In December, Patankar resigned.
Winter break ushered in several weeks of relative calm, but then in February, Jay Hammond, chair of the school's theology department, stepped down in protest of the lingering Biondi situation. In March, as part of that six-point plan, the trustees ordered a survey to assess the climate on campus, but only one question referenced the president, further angering faculty. In April, Tom Brouster, the chairman of the board of trustees, resigned from the position. He and Biondi then canceled a scheduled appearance before the faculty senate, leading to another round of complaints.
The yearlong battle, with tensions increasing month by month, led to Saturday, when Biondi announced his retirement. He will stay on until his replacement has been found, a search process that could take quite some time.
Perhaps history will say that Biondi's downfall resulted from his unwillingness to adjust his aggressive style. Or perhaps it was simply time for a change, after 25 years. Regardless of how Biondi's exit is remembered, this much is clear: Saint Louis University—and the entire region—would not be the same without him.
When all the dust settles, the grievances might not be forgotten—most, at this point, seem somberly glad (if that's possible) to see him go. But despite the shortcomings that have led to this point, Father Biondi deserves respect for all he's built at SLU.
