‘Monday afternoon massacre’?
Seven Lees-McRae faculty members see contracts terminated after long careers

By Nancy Morrison

The contracts of seven faculty members at a Banner Elk private college were terminated recently, leaving some of the jobless instructors scratching their heads over the reasons.

On Monday, April 6, seven faculty members at Lees-McRae College were told their contracts had not been renewed.

Claude Pyatte, Ken Davis, Chow Ching, Scott Woodward, Donese Preswood, Marc McClure, and Caroline West each had served the college for more than 20 years.

A former LMC professor sent an e-mail informing the media of the terminations, calling them a “Monday afternoon massacre.”

The e-mail further stated “administrators let it be known that any remaining faculty members who contacted the school’s board of directors would be fired.”

One of the seven faculty members, anatomy and physiology teacher Claude Pyatte said, “I was just blindsided. My contract was up for renewal and, when they told me Monday it was not renewed, I was stunned. I asked why not and got no good answer. [Provost] Debra Thatcher told me she had followed the procedure in the handbook, but she gave me no reason why, after 23 years, my services aren’t needed.”

Lees-McRae President David Bushman was unavailable for comment.

Thatcher said Bushman was traveling on behalf of the college and was unavailable to talk with reporters. Thatcher said she often stood in for Bushman and could answer any questions.

Bushman recently announced he would be leaving the college in May to take a job in Maryland.

When asked about faculty members threatened with being terminated if they contacted the board of directors, Thatcher said, “That is absolutely not true. And I am the one who told them [the terminated faculty members] they had the right to appeal and that appeal bypasses me and the committee and goes straight to the board.”
Pyatte said he has filed an appeal.

“I was told this has nothing to do with money,” he said. “I could understand budget cuts.”

According to Thatcher, there were three factors involved in the terminations. It was decided one administrative position was unnecessary, so the person was terminated.

In another instance, the curriculum was revamped so the position became unnecessary. In the other five cases, the members didn’t meet the criteria in the faculty handbook and were terminated upon review of their applications for contract renewal, Thatcher said.

“We approved 12 renewals, so more contracts were renewed than terminated,” Thatcher said. “It is a faculty-approved and faculty-driven process. Our decisions are based upon standards and processes in place and are aimed at our efforts to continually improve the educational experience of our students.”