We the students, parents, alumni, and members of the Lesley community are calling for the immediate resignation of President Janet Steinmayer in light of a recent report by faculty showing the mismanagement of university funds during her time as President and the consequent 3rd vote of no confidence by the faculty assembly. Following last semester’s mass layoff of faculty and staff—only the latest in a series of misguided restructuring efforts by the university-- this report puts into perspective the undemocratic workings of the Steinmayer administration, which flies in the face of the values on which the institution was founded.  

The report-- compiled by Lesley faculty using publicly available University tax records—shows that Lesley University’s supposed “budget crisis” is really a crisis of mismanagement. Since Janet Steinmayer came into office-- the university has disproportionately increased spending on management expenses, while making cuts to academically-necessary areas like instruction, academic support, and student services. Since 2019, the University has increased spending on management by 36%, including a 24% increase in management salaries. Meanwhile, all other areas received cuts in spending and salaries. Lesley spends more of its budget on management than any of its peer institutions. Notably, President Steinmayer’s own salary has more than doubled during this period-- giving her the second highest salary of a university President across peer institutions.  

As tuition continues to rise—with the University announcing a 4.5% increase in tuition for the 2024-25 school year—the quality of education is dropping precipitously under Steinmayer’s “Better Lesley” initiative. Over the past three years, there have been five major protests organized by students and three votes of no confidence by faculty—calling for President Steinmayer and her administration to change course. President Steinmayer has consistently disregarded the widespread dissent expressed by the Lesley community, continuing on with her undemocratic restructuring initiative which betrays the values of the institution. This leaves us with no choice but to call for her resignation.  

We demand that Janet Steinmayer resign as President by Friday, April 5th. If she fails to do so, we demand that the Board of Trustees fire her—should they fail to act, we will call for their resignation as well.