海角换妻 College President Katherine Bergeron, who faced sustained protests from students over a canceled fundraising trip to a controversial social club, announced her resignation Friday.
鈥淚 am writing to let you know that I informed the Board of Trustees this week that I will be stepping down as President of 海角换妻 College at the end of the current semester,鈥� Bergeron said.
Bergeron was criticized by protesting students and faculty over a planned but canceled fundraising trip to the Everglades Club in Florida. The club has a racist past, protesting students said. Students subsequently occupied the school鈥檚 Fanning Hall, the administration building, demanding Bergeron鈥檚 resignation.
But the students also protested over the resignation of the school鈥檚 dean of institutional equity and inclusion, Rodmon King, who left the school over the trip, and the college鈥檚 treatment of students of color and LGBTQ students, among others.
A college spokesperson declined to comment when asked if the protests led to Bergeron鈥檚 resignation. But Bergeron alluded to the protests in her resignation statement.
鈥淐ertainly, the road has not always been easy. It never is, when the work is so important and the goals so ambitious,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he past several weeks have proven particularly challenging, and as president, I fully accept my share of responsibility for the circumstances that have led us to this moment.鈥�
But while Bergeron will resign, protesting students previously said they wanted her to step down immediately, so it's unclear whether protests will continue when classes resume Monday after spring break. Members of the student group Student Voices for Equity. which participated in the protests, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Leila Merhi, a sophomore, who protested outside the school鈥檚 administration building says she and other students are pleased with Bergeron's announcement and say they will still call for change.
鈥淛ust because she resigned doesn't mean that like everything is, this is going to fix all the issues on campus, like there鈥檚 still, like institutional policies that need to be updated and there鈥檚 still like, um, administrators that we want to see make change,鈥� she said.
The Board of Trustees is searching for a new college president, it said in a statement also released on Friday. But the school did not say who the interim president will be once Bergeron leaves her position after the spring semester.
