The University Senate spent the majority of their latest meeting discussing the sudden closure of the Senior Commons Room, but in the end decided to hold off on any group action until the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, responds to the complaints.

Maurice Brungardt, professor of history and president of the Senior Commons Room Association, presented a report on the status of the recently-closed room at the University Senate meeting Tuesday. Mary Blue, associate professor of communications, conducted the meeting.

Until the beginning of this semester, the Senior Commons Room was a place for lunch where faculty brought their guest speakers and people interviewing for a job.

According to Brungardt, the room was closed due to cost and lack of space on campus, but since then the university has done nothing to utilize the space.

“I think everyone, including Father Wildes, would admit that … the room served the university community far better in its former capacity,” Brungardt said.

The money should not have been an issue, according to Brungardt. “We suggested that in a budget of more than $100 million, $14,000 was a miniscule amount,” he said.

Brungardt also said he was unsatisfied with Wildes’ response to his complaints, which he called “short” and “written with some haste.”

“We were offended that he treated it so casually,” he said.

Faculty members debated back and forth regarding the wording of the report. Many professors said they wanted Wildes to address the issue fully.

Marcus Smith, associate English professor, said because Brungardt had not finished his report, he could leave off mid-speech without necessitating any group action. A 17-16 vote decided to table the issue until the next regular meeting.

The Senate also discussed Loyola’s intellectual property rights policy, particularly about the rights to syllabuses. After some deliberation, the Senate voted to accept the report with amendments, which will be presented at the Dec. 2 meeting.

The meeting concluded with Smith presenting a report on recent human resources decisions at Loyola that he said are not in line with the school’s stated mission of social justice.

“In August, a 24-year employee was confronted with a choice: resignation or termination. She was then removed from campus, while locksmiths changed the locks on her office,” Smith said. “We call ourselves a family, and she cannot come back on campus. This is a pretty traumatic way to separate.”

Smith suggested that the human resources department and administration in general is functioning using a corporate model rather than one founded in Loyola’s ideals.

The Senate then voted 28-1 to accept the report as it stands.

Kelly Brown can be reached at [email protected].