A semester of shock waves
Mary Baldwin University, a small, private college with campuses in Staunton and Fishersville, has been through a number of tumultuous changes in the past six months that prompted critique from faculty, students, and alumni. In the first piece of a two-part report, WMRA's Randi B. Hagi looked into what happened, and where the institution is heading now.
The last fall semester at Mary Baldwin started on an upbeat note, according to David McLeod, an associate professor of biology and the father of a current student. He attended an event with his daughter where students signed the school's honor pledge, and President Jeff Stein gave opening remarks.
DAVID MCLEOD: It was encouraging, it was exciting, it was positive.
The next day, McLeod said, he received an email saying Stein had resigned. This incident kicked off a maelstrom of changes made by university leadership and pushback from an academic community that had a slew of unanswered questions.
The university announced on August 27 that, the day before, Stein notified the Board of Trustees he would resign, and the board immediately confirmed Vice President and Dean of the College of Health Sciences Todd Telemeco as the new president.
Just over a week later, the faculty passed a resolution of "no confidence" in the board, as the News Leader reported.The board voted to discontinue 17 minors, many of them in the arts and humanities. Faculty members began to hear about colleagues being fired.
Over the next month, the faculty council, an alumni group, and faculty from the School of Visual and Performing Arts, the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, the School of Science, and the overarching College of Arts and Sciences all released statements condemning these decisions and asking the board and new president for answers. Students held a protest. A petition, which has since garnered more than 5,000 signatures, was published online to protect the school's "liberal arts legacy."
Then, the first week of the spring semester, the board announced Telemeco's resignation, effective at the end of June.
WMRA interviewed three faculty members, a dean, and one of the board's co-chairs about this series of events, and what's next for the university. Other current and former faculty and staff, and former board members, declined to speak on the record.
Regarding President Stein, professors describe a leader who was loved by the academic community.
KADRIN ANDERSON: Jeff Stein was the greatest thing to happen to Mary Baldwin University in 20 years.
Kadrin Anderson is an assistant professor of biology. Science faculty told WMRA they felt safer to speak to the media than their arts colleagues might.
ANDERSON: Jeff's line was always, "all in for Mary Baldwin." It was just such a breath of fresh air.
Stein was hired through a national search in 2023, when former President Pamela Fox retired after a 20-year tenure.
MCLEOD: Jeff is the kind of leader who was invested in the institution, passionate about the students, and was a gatherer of people.
REBECCA HABERMAN: He was very connected to faculty.
Rebecca Haberman is an associate professor of biology and directs the School of Science.
HABERMAN: Everything I had seen from him indicated that he was dedicated to the university, and a resignation seemed really out of the blue.
Fellow biology professor McLeod said once he got notice of Stein's resignation, he and other faculty went to the on-campus house where Jeff lived with his wife, Chrissy. She volunteered as director of the college's Writing Center, and had just been named director of the Commons – a center for student support services.
MCLEOD: Chrissy was obviously really upset, and Jeff, Jeff was so focused on – he's like, "it's about the students. Keep your focus on the students. That's why we're here."
He said Stein would not divulge what led to his resignation. McLeod reached out to the Steins with my interview request, which they declined. And the board hasn't revealed any reasons, either. I interviewed Co-chair Constance Dierickx, who has served on the board since 2020 and is an Atlanta-based advisor to corporations and not-for-profits on high-stakes decisions.
Dierickx said she could not answer a number of my questions, including:
- What led to Stein's resignation,
- If Stein signed a nondisclosure agreement with the university,
- If Stein volunteered to resign or was asked to by the board,
- Whether the reasons behind Stein's resignation were discussed with the full Board of Trustees, or only within the executive committee, and
- Why Telemeco was installed as a permanent rather than an interim president.
CONSTANCE DIERICKX: There's a lot that I know people are curious about the board – how the board works and what we discuss, but I can't discuss it. I mean, that's a long-held concept in governance, and of course the role of the board is to govern … but there's nothing about how, who, or what the board deliberated about that I can comment on.
She did explain that a plan of succession for the college presidency had been drafted over a year before these events.
DIERICKX: There was, in place, an emergency plan for Todd to take over in the event that Dr. Stein was unable to do that. … That was a conversation between Dr. Stein and the board. That was not dictated.
On November 10, Telemeco wrote an email to faculty announcing the elimination of the 17 minors. He said they needed to prioritize "career-focused, workforce-aligned, partnership-driven, and professional" programs. In a faculty meeting on December 5, according to a written version of his remarks provided to WMRA, Telemeco acknowledged that the loss of minors was painful, but "ultimately directed and approved" by the board, which is compelled to act by the university's mission and "the financial realities facing our institution."
But the professors I spoke with, including Kadrin Anderson, contend that cutting these minors doesn't save much money.
ANDERSON: A lot of the majors that we still have, those courses still have to be taught.
A group of executive staff did provide input to the minors discussion.
AMY DIDUCH: My estimate this summer was that for adjunct pay, overload pay, additional expenses, that those minors probably cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 or $60,000 a year. That, alone, is absolutely not enough to justify eliminating minors.
Amy Diduch is the dean of institutional effectiveness and the Gold College of Arts and Sciences. She noted it does make it easier to schedule courses if they're not tied to a specific timeline for a student to earn a minor.
DIDUCH: I think it's clear that our students and our faculty value immensely the experiences that students have in the courses that are offered within those minors. We don't actually have a huge number of students enrolled in the majority of those minors. … How do you sync up those two issues?
In part two of this report, we'll look further into the university's financial position, recent decisions that reversed course from last semester, and where the institution is headed now.
University re-examines debt, previous cuts while envisioning future
Mary Baldwin University, a small, private college with campuses in Staunton and Fishersville, has been through a number of tumultuous changes in the past six months that prompted critique from faculty, students, and alumni. In the second piece of a two-part report, WMRA's Randi B. Hagi looked into what happened, and where the institution is heading now.
Last November, Mary Baldwin’s newly installed president, Todd Telemeco, told faculty that 17 minors were to be eliminated. Faculty, including Associate Biology Professor David McLeod, started hearing through the grapevine that colleagues were being let go.
DAVID MCLEOD: We kind of learned by word of mouth who was getting cut, because what was happening was the president's office sent an email and said "the president would like to meet with you," and he scheduled just … 10 minute time slots with people to say … "thanks for your service but goodbye."
Rebecca Haberman, also an associate professor of biology, expressed this plea:
REBECCA HABERMAN: I think the board, or at least some top members of the board have a vision for the university. … I'd like to know what their vision is, whether I agree with it or not, and really I want the rationale for the decisions that have been made.
The January 15 email sharing Telemeco's resignation also announced the reinstatement of four unnamed faculty members and four minors – African American studies, art history, religious studies, and sexuality and gender studies.
I asked Board of Trustees Co-chair Constance Dierickx about the extent of the board's role in eliminating faculty positions –
CONSTANCE DIERICKX: The board does not hire nor remove anyone other than the president. Are we informed about things? We're informed about a lot of things that are not our decision as part of our oversight role.
… and minors.
DIERICKX: So the board must approve actions like that, and of course the board asks for information about these things. … The reason for bringing those back that we did was that we had more information, and that new information told us that that was the right thing to do.
She declined to say what that new information was. A university spokesperson declined to answer questions about the financial impacts of cutting minors and how many faculty members were let go last semester.
So, what is the university's financial position? The Augusta Free Press previously reported on an email Telemeco sent to alumni, which said the university held $18 million in debt, and "much of our Staunton and Fishersville campuses are pledged as security against our debt." According to a 2024 audit available online, the largest piece of this debt is just under $12.9 million in USDA Rural Development Debt. Dierickx confirmed to WMRA that this loan was part of the funding to build the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences in Fishersville, which opened in 2014 and offers bachelor's and graduate-level programs. A 2016 audit shows this loan on the books for $13 million, with principal and interest payments beginning the following year.
The college's overall enrollment has fluctuated in recent years, according to their publicly available fiscal filings. It dipped to 1,250 around the start of the pandemic, rose to more than 2,200, and they currently claim 1,800 on their website.
Dean Amy Diduch provided more context.
AMY DIDUCH: Murphy Deming's the easiest one to answer. The programs there have continued to be successful, have attracted high quality applicants, and we feel very, very strong about the future of graduate medical education. Online is – it's holding fairly steady and possibly increasing slightly. … Undergraduate residential … applications are up about 70% this year.
The board has directed university staff to look into selling or repurposing properties that are not central to the residential undergraduate experience, but their options are limited by the debt.
DIERICKX: The covenants that are required by an agency like the USDA can restrict what you're able to do in the future, and the amount of debt Mary Baldwin has, based on our size, is not an egregious amount of debt, but when you have requirements that you can and can't do certain things, it just constrains your options.
Simultaneously, the board is now discussing how to hire a president for the third time in three years. I asked a university spokesperson if Telemeco would comment on his resignation, and was sent a statement which read in part, "his decision was a personal one, and he shared his appreciation for the opportunity to serve Mary Baldwin during an important period of transition."
Looking forward, both Diduch and Dierickx shared their excitement for the "Mary Baldwin Signature," a framework for the undergraduate program that sorts students into "neighborhoods" with special events based on their areas of study, and connects incoming freshmen to professors, coaches, tutors, and one another.
DIDUCH: We've got to get past this awful past semester of doom and gloom, the frustrations with the board, and with the decisions that were made, because what we're seeing is the coalescing of so much work into these amazing, positive experiences for the students.
DIERICKX: We remain rooted in tradition, but we are designed for transformation. And the role of the board is to keep our eyes on that stewardship and fiduciary responsibility, and our students. What do our students do when they leave? What are they equipped to do?
Despite their frustrations with the institution last semester, biology professors McLeod and Anderson expressed an unwavering dedication to the students.
MCLEOD: They're like the nicest human beings, the kindest human beings you could ever want to have. And I've never worked with a group of faculty who are more dedicated to those students.
ANDERSON: I just hope that they know that we're doing everything we can because we care so deeply about them and want to see them succeed, no matter what.
Mary Baldwin has, for years, prided itself on the upward rungs of potential it offers to college students with limited opportunities – those from lower-income families and the first in their families to pursue higher education. Now, the institution must climb that ladder itself.
