A reaffirming vote of no confidence against Central Michigan University's president and provost was brought forward, then dropped by the Academic Senate last Tuesday.

Senator Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, faculty member in the mathematics department, presented a resolution to reaffirm the vote of no confidence against University President George Ross and Provost Gary Shapiro that was passed on Dec. 6. The document outlined flaws in the leadership of Ross and Shapiro, such as “(failure to) engage in effective communication with students, faculty and staff, demonstrate transparent decision making, show respect for students, faculty and staff and exhibit intellectual and academic values.”

About an hour of deliberation on the motion was brought to an end when Ross delivered a passionate speech to senate members.

“I’m disappointed by this motion. It’s painful, not only to me personally and professionally, but to the institution,” Ross said. “Hopefully we can find within ourselves to move forward and be successful again.”

Ross’ speech came after senate members argued back and forth to determine whether the points made in the resolution were accurate.

“The resolution states that students, faculty and staff support every claim, but I don’t understand where that information is coming from,” said Shelby Township senior and former Student Government Association President Vince Cavataio. "Even if a student was involved, one student doesn’t equal 20,000 students speaking for all of us.”

Cavataio received a round of applause after his statement.

As hostility and anger built in the room, senators continued to find fault with the resolution, arguing that it was unconstructive.

“We’ve already stated pretty clearly how we feel and this adds nothing to the dialogue,” Senator Leigh Orf said. “I simply don’t agree that the provost and president are unfit. I think that faculty relations have been poor, but that’s a small piece of their jobs.”

Senator Maureen Eke, professor of African American Literature, said it was important to acknowledge that people have been hurt and that wrongs have happened. The real problem, she said, is there is no concerted effort to encourage communication that might end the problems.

"I am truly exhausted by this conversation," Eke said. "We can take a no confidence vote and nothing happens. We can stay silent and nothing happens. Then what? We need to make changes.”

After hearing their concerns, Ross told the A-Senate he has been trying to do a better job of keeping the decision-making progress transparent. He said he is willing to put the past aside and put in the work to fix faculty and administration relations.

“This past year has been pretty ugly," Ross said. "I’m asking that we move forward. I’m doing this because I care. We can wallow in what was, or we can make an attempt to move forward."

Following Ross’ speech, Senator Mark Lehman asked that the resolution be withdrawn and Jimenez complied.

Senator Salma Ghanem, Dean of the College of Communications and Fine Arts, acknowledged that dialogue has increased and transparency improved.

“We all need to realize that although there were disagreements, something positive has come out of this year," she said. "Let’s give the policies that have developed a chance"