Ryan Ostry
Bugle Reporter
@RyanOstry_BR18
rostry@buglenewspapers.com
Benedictine University in Lisle will be in search of a new President as Michael S. Brophy announced his resignation to the Board of Trustees August, 10.
Dr. Brophy will be committing to a year long sabbatical in search of higher leadership and education, school officials said.
“It’s been an honor to sustain the Benedictine mission during my tenure as president,” Dr. Brophy said in a release. “Recent developments at the University prepare Benedictine to move to the next level as a first-choice regional Catholic University as well as a thought-leader in our sector.”
Brophy started his tenure in 2015 coming over from Marymount California University where he took over from past President, William Carroll.
The news that came about was a shock to some people because Brophy signed a contract extension through 2022 just last year.
Throughout his three years as the schools leader, Brophy was well known for his development of education and other programs involving the school.
“I appreciate the steps Dr. Brophy took to strengthen the Benedictine, Catholic mission of Benedictine University,” Abbot Austin Murphy of St. Procopius Abbey, the University’s founding order said. “The hiring for mission policy and the strategic plan, which he initiated soon after becoming president, will serve the University well in the coming years.”
With the resignation coming just a couple weeks before fall classes start on August 27, a search committee headed by Mr. Daniel Rigby, vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, will immediately start the process of determining who will be Dr. Brophy’s successor.
“It’s been my honor to serve Benedictine during this formative time in the University’s history,” Brophy said. “We are truly fulfilling the Benedictine hallmarks in all we do.”
The committee will have representatives from the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, administrators, students, the monks of St. Procopius Abbey and alumni of the University all collaborating within the process, school officials said.
Even though Dr. Brophy has had sustained success at the University, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the past President.
A total of seven monks from Lisle’s St. Procopius Abbey filed a lawsuit shortly after his arrangement saying that the university had denied their rights as members of the university, including the right to interview job candidates and vote for the university’s new president.
Benedictine’s former associate director of media relations, Elliott Peppers, filed a federal lawsuit against the school last summer claiming civil rights violations, discrimination and a virulent work environment
In the meantime, Charles Gregory, a recent recipient of an honorary doctorate from Benedictine University will serve as the interim president during the search process held by the school, school officials said.
Gregory previously served as Executive Vice President of Benedictine University, and was the CEO of the Mesa Campus Benedictine University.
It is expected that the search process will last anywhere from six to nine months.