Faculty at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business vote for Whitten's termination

Editor's note: This article was been updated at noon on May 6, 2024, to reflect the total number of colleges that have held votes in response to the incidents in Dunn Meadow. The Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design and the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies are part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Faculty from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business called for the Board of Trustees to terminate the employment of President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav, the latest in a growing number of college-wide votes calling for a change in administration.

About 75% of eligible faculty in the college participated, with 294 of 389 total faculty voting.

Of them, 77% voted for a resolution calling for trustees to “terminate any administrative appointment of President Whitten based on the vote of no confidence and her handling of events in Dunn Meadow,” while 73% voted for the trustees to terminate Shrivastav for the same reasons.

Faculty also voted for a repeal of the new policy on outdoor structures in Dunn Meadow and a repeal of the bans for the more than 50 people arrested by Indiana State Police by margins of 80% and 81%, respectively.

The Kelley School is IU’s second-largest school, with 12,137 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the spring 2024 semester.

With the latest vote, faculty from IU’s three-largest colleges – the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kelley School, and the Luddy School of Informatics – have all formally called for the resignation of Whitten and Shrivastav.

To date, faculty in eight of IU's colleges have passed votes or written letters condemning IU’s actions in Dunn Meadow, and calling for a repeal of the policy and bans. The votes that included resolutions on the resignation of Whitten and Shrivastav all passed.

Only two schools, the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health, have yet to hold votes or release statements on the events in Dunn Meadow. 

Tension towards the Whitten administration was evident during undergraduate and graduate commencement ceremonies this weekend. Audience members routinely booed when Whitten spoke and a small number of faculty members participated in silent protests outside of Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig atbrian@heraldt.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at@brianwritesnews.