BURLINGTON — From a car surrounded by chanting student protesters, Burlington College President Christine Plunkett on Friday said she resigned, but the college would not confirm whether she had officially stepped down.
The protest came after months of turmoil at the college, which is on academic probation because of financial concerns. A recent audit found a lack of internal financial controls in addition to quickly mounting debt.
In a protest organized by the student union, about 30 students and several faculty marched 1.3 miles up North Avenue, chanting and carrying signs, to the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, where the college board of trustees and Plunkett had met to revise the school’s budget.
The board did not let students into the meeting. Instead, they surrounded the building chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, Christine Plunkett has to go” and “what do you do when you’re under attack? Stand up, fight back.”
As Plunkett exited the building after the meeting at about 11 a.m., students demanded to speak with her and the board and insisted that she resign. Plunkett pushed past and got into her blue Subaru in the parking lot.
When students surrounded the SUV and refused to budge, Plunkett said “OK, I resign. Happy? Goodbye.”
Students, first stunned, cheered and hugged as she drove away, believing that they had gotten their wish. The school Friday afternoon would not confirm whether Plunkett had formally resigned. Neither Plunkett nor board chairman Yves Bradley returned phone calls Friday.
During the interaction in the parking lot, students told Plunkett they do not believe she listens to students.
Plunkett said she gives students multiple opportunities to speak with her but very few take advantage. Students said she doesn’t give them enough time and leaves meetings early.
“Come to my office next week,” she said. “I have to go and run a college. I have a budget to prepare.”
Plunkett’s spokeswoman and two board members exited the building shortly after she drove away, and each said they had no comment. The Burlington Free Press reported that a man believed to be a board member was unaware of a resignation.
Representatives from the Burlington College Student Union organized the protest and distributed their signature blue felt circles to students to pin on their clothing.
After the incident, students took Plunkett at her word. The union released a statement saying students are excited for a post-Plunkett future.
The college has not recognized the union as an official student group and has asked them to organize through the college as a student government. The union has refused.
Plunkett on Friday, speaking from her car, said it took six months before the administration received the union’s bylaws.
As Plunkett drove away, students chanted “BCSU. What’s good for me is good for you.”
The student union and the faculty/staff council recently took votes of no confidence in Plunkett. The board issued a response to the council saying it was working with Plunkett to overcome the school’s financial problems.
The school was the subject of a 2013 audit that expressed worry about whether the school could remain financially viable.
The protest began Friday morning at about 9:20 a.m. when students gathered outside the lakefront school with signs saying “I march for BC because …”
One sign said “because I value truth.” One student’s mother marched with a sign that said “because it is my daughter’s school. She needs her education to continue here.”
Before marching downtown, the group trailed through the halls of the school looking for faculty to march with them. Several did, including Piers Kaniuka, chair of the Integral Psychology department.
Along their march, students shared what they love about the school, whose motto is “start a fire.”
“There’s some magic in the school, throughout the community that’s in our school,” said Mikayla Johnson, 20, a junior studying expressive arts, which combines art and psychology.
Many students said it is the first academic environment in which they felt truly at home.
“It’s very easy to flourish because nobody is really telling you how to learn,” said Luke McNeil, 19, a freshman from Weston, Massachusetts.
Susan Carlo, the mother of junior Allise Hewes, said her daughter transferred from Hampshire College because Burlington College offers an art therapy program as well as psychology. The atmosphere at Burlington College is thoughtful and sensitive, she said.
“She’s just flourishing and she loves it,” said Carlo, who was visiting her daughter this weekend from her home in New York City.
Carlo said as a parent paying tuition, she is concerned about the school’s financial situation. She said the college did not inform her that the school was on probation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
“This is an opportunity to restore the principles that Burlington College was founded on,” said Mark Covino, a film professor and 2006 alumni.
Freshman Benjamin Gilbert, a film student, said he could sense the tension between the faculty and administration even during his first week of class.
“After hearing Christine (Plunkett) announce her resignation I couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope,” Gilbert said in the student union release.
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