To the Editor:
Your recent editorial “If the Price is Right,” printed on Nov. 9, 2006 begs the question: Is anyone surprised? The answer is, of course not.
Students, faculty and staff have known for a long time that Saint Louis University is operated more toward the model of a Fortune 500 corporation than a Jesuit institution of higher education.
One could go through the University News archives to document this, but a few examples are enough to prove the point-i.e., the manner in which the Loyola New Orleans student tuition assistance was handled after Katrina, where at least two secular institutions exhibited greater compassion than SLU did; the firing of two Jesuit priests for speaking out against a flawed policy; and the reorganization of Parks College, which led a respected dean to resign.
From a corporate perspective, maybe each move made sense. SLU is not a Fortune 500 corporation, but a religious institution where we ideally model the ministry of Jesus.
SLU administrators take advantage of every opportunity to talk about our mission and vision, but fall short of putting it into practice.
And what of our ethical lapses? Consider the case of an executive director from one of our centers of excellence who received money from a private foundation and distributed the cash “bonus” in sealed envelopes to certain “favored” employees with the instructions not to tell anyone.
It is time to get back to our roots. Is the current administration up to the challenge?

Michael Kurtz