Well, the plot thickens, I suppose. Our dean resigned.
In his letter of resignation he said it was "with mixed emotions" that he steps down, and I think those words also reflect how his announcement has been received. Still no one really knows what happened to our building fund, although an audit is underway and there should be an accurate tally of how much money was actually raised somewhat soon. The larger problem turned out to be not that the building groundbreaking would be delayed, but that there was a sense among many students and faculty that answers to their many questions on the matter were not suffiently forthcoming.
Still, the Dean Cass had done a lot for the school over the years, raising its ranking and hiring distinguished faculty. He was here for a long time and the instituion is better for it. There's no deep animosity toward him that is satisfied by this turn of events.
If a change was to be made, it's better that it happens now. The longer the questions swirled unanswered the worse off we'd all be. But still, it seems unfortunate, for Dean Cass and for the school community, that anything had to change.
Posted on 4/18/04, but date changed closer to when the announcement was made and it should have been posted.