Students and teaching assistants in Professor Monica Cyrino's Roman Civilization class are questioning why she has been asked to resign as chairperson of the department with two years remaining in the position.
Cyrino, professor of foreign languages and literature, said she was forced to step down as chairperson of the Foreign Languages and Literature Department the week before spring break by Arts and Sciences Dean Reed Dasenbrock.
She remains tight-lipped about why she was asked to resign because she is fearful that if she speaks out about the resignation, she will not be granted an appeal if she decides to contest the decision.
Dasenbrock says Cyrino was asked to step down from her position because she was not effective in the leadership role with other staff members and she was unable to unite the divided department.
"She was asked to step down as chairwoman because, based on the evaluations of most tenured faculty in her department, they felt that she was doing poorly," he said.
Alena Allen, a student and teaching assistant in Cyrino's class, said she has heard rumors that Cyrino was asked to resign because Dasenbrock thought she was too flamboyant in the classroom and possibly too young.
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Cyrino, 39, is a tenured professor.
"She was an incredible leader and her administration was very effective. And others in the department thought she was more effective than previous chairs," Allen said. "She was great at keeping us informed, and she always seemed to be on the top of things."
Allen has been working under Cyrino for two years.
Dasenbrock said he called for her resignation purely based on her performance.
"Asking her to resign because I thought she was too young for the position is illegal, and I would have never done anything like that," he said
Dasenbrock said Cyrino offered her resignation at the beginning of the year because she was concerned with how the staff members in her department were going to evaluate her performance.
He said he told Cyrino to wait until they received the evaluations from the staff before addressing the situation further. Dasenbrock said that when the evaluations came in, the department was divided, and he asked her to resign as chairperson.
"She had lost the majority of support from the faculty and that is why she was asked to step down," Dasenbrock said.
Sophomore Chrissy Hicks said she also has heard rumors about why her professor is no longer the chair of the department but didn't speculate on the reasons why. Hicks said if people think Cyrino isn't a good teacher because she is too flamboyant, then they are wrong.
"I've never been offended by her teaching style because she makes the class interesting and, at the same time, is getting all of the class material across to the students," Hicks said.
Bursts of laughter could be heard outside Cyrino's class Thursday afternoon as students listened to her lecture on Roman politics and poetry.
Cyrino, wearing a slim-fitting purple shirt with tailored black pants and stiletto heels held the attention of her students as she joked about wanting to look more like Mariah Carey.
"I wouldn't mind if the paparazzi follows me around, I just have to make sure that they get me from my right side," Cyrino said in jest.
History Professor Richard Berthold, who team-teaches with Cyrino, said he thinks the dean asked her to resign because he was receiving complaints from her staff about her management.
"This sort of thing happens to anyone who chairs the language department, and I am mystified why the dean didn't bother to investigate further and examine why she was really not liked by her staff," Berthold said. "She probably wasn't liked because she has been immensely successful and popular in the classroom with her students, and they probably got jealous because they are such a bore in the classroom."
Berthold said he was disappointed with the way she was asked to resign in the middle of the semester.
Dasenbrock said he appreciates Cyrino's teaching style and looks forward to resolving the situation.
"She is a very talented teacher, and I hope she will remain here as a professor - she's outstanding," he said.
