DePaul University / Jeff Carrion
DePaul president Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. announced he will resign as president of DePaul University effective summer of 2017.
“It’s best for DePaul if I step aside in the summer of 2017 so that a new leader can assist the institution to name and ambitiously pursue its next set of strategic objectives,” Holtschneider said in an email sent to faculty and staff Monday afternoon.
According to the email, the decision has been underway since December of last year.
“My decision to step aside as president has been underway since my Christmas retreat,” Holtschneider said in his email. “In late January, the provincial of my Vincentian congregation gave permission for this transition. I informed DePaul’s board leadership in March, at which time we decided to share this news more broadly at the conclusion of the academic year.”
The email also stated that he will not being leaving for another position, but rather return to a tenured faculty position after a year away from the University.
Holtschneider’s resignation comes just weeks after increasing tension on campus, the tipping point of which was a visit by Milo Yiannopoulous and subsequent protests, where many students called for his resignation.
DePaul professor of law Terry Smith was one of the people who called for Holtschneider’s resignation in a recent letter to the editor.
“The President’s decision to step down was an act of true leadership,” Smith said in response to Holtschneider’s announcement today. “His decision, however, should not be used as an excuse to slow-walk or ignore the demands set forth by the university’s black community.
“My concern is also that the faculty not be passive in the selection process for a new president, and that the leadership of Faculty Council does not betray the interests of the faculty in that process.”
The University will comprise a search committee of board representatives, university administration, faculty and students, led by DePaul Trustee and Vice Chair Jim Ryan, to hire a new president, according to a university press release.
“The board is dedicated to conducting a comprehensive national search to find the best individual possible to lead the university,” board chair William Bennett said in the release.
The committee will also retain assistance from an executive search firm, Witt/Kieffer, and “will consider both Vincentian and lay leaders.”
The board will also invite the submission of candidate names from members of the university community, according the release.