While the vote of no confidence regarding the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president has been postponed to January, the discussion on university leadership has just begun.

The motion of no confidence, raised by Joelle Underwood, associate professor of chemistry, acknowledged events and decisions that have negatively impacted the university during Wildes’ time as president over a 10-year time span.

“For years behind the scenes, faculty have been expressing concerns about the leadership. I started the motion to address those concerns,” Underwood said.

The motion was originally scheduled to be voted on Nov. 19; however, it has been moved to Jan. 21.

According to Jon Altschul, chairman of the University Senate, the vote was postponed in order to hear from Wildes as well as the Board of Trustees before coming to a final decision.

“One of the reasons for the postponement was to allow faculty more time to review the President’s plan for a sustainable, viable and productive Loyola,” Altschul said. “The faculty do not want to do anything that might impede the university’s effort to overcome its current financial challenges, and the wisdom of the group in November was that it should not rush to make a judgment on what is such an important university matter.”

Underwood said that she was prepared to vote at the November senate meeting.

“I was ready to vote when the vote of no-confidence came forward. But I understand the need of my colleagues to consider this with more time, and I respect that decision,” Underwood said.

A criticism of the motion is that it focuses too much on the past and not so much on recent concerns, but Underwood believes that the university needs to acknowledge these past events and how they affect the university today.

“The point of the motion is to show a failure in leadership. It focuses on the historical incidents that occurred under his leadership. Those events leading up to today made the university weaker,” Underwood said. “There has been a significant turnover in the Board of Trustees and faculty members over the past 10 years. It was important to me to have the newer members be aware of the historical events and Fr. Wildes’ role in them.”

Altschul said that he would like to see open conversation about leadership and the direction of the university come out of the whole voting process.

“The faculty are seeking some open and transparent dialogue on how the leadership is going to get us through the next five to 10 years, and also whether the right leadership is in place to see that through. The dialogue is what the faculty are seeking,” Altschul said.

Underwood also said that she hopes this conversation initiates the spark to more conversation on university issues.

“I would like the greater Loyola community to be more involved. I want faculty and staff to be aware and informed about the problems,” Underwood said.

The Maroon has reached out to Wildes but has received no comment.

(Gage Counts contributed to this article).