In an unscheduled and anonymous ballot measure on March 4, the Emporia State Faculty Senate voted no confidence in ESU General Counsel Steven Lovett; on April 1, they will vote to rescind it, according to an article published by the Emporia Gazette. 

A vote of no confidence refers to a vote that expresses a body’s confidence in the ability of a leader to do their job. Faculty Senate President and Director of Ethnic and Gender Studies Mallory Bishop introduced the vote just weeks after Lovett’s February testimony to the Kansas House Judiciary Committee where he introduced a bill currently stuck in committee that would remove tenure as a property right. Lovett did so as a private citizen, not on behalf of the University. 

Bishop did not include a motion for the vote in the Faculty Senate’s March 4 meeting agenda, which could have violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act. In an interview with The Bulletin on Tuesday, Bishop said any violation was not her intention and that the measure was not included in the agenda to ensure Senators felt safe enough to “vote their conscience” without undue influence and could do so without a “spectacle.”

“So that was my intention, but that was not my impact, and I am a big enough person to be able to listen to feedback and understand that even if people agreed with my intentions, they did not agree that it was worth me not aligning with their expectations or not aligning with the Kansas Open Meeting Act,” she said. “That is something that I am taking that feedback and doing my best to rectify the situation.”

Bishop noted that there is no codified process on how to go about conducting a vote of no confidence in Faculty Senate, University or KBOR policies. Amid concerns that the anonymous ballot could have been unlawful for a binding action, they indicated that the Senate’s action was not binding.

“Essentially, it’s a strongly worded opinion. You know, that’s what this is. It’s our opinion,” Bishop said. “It doesn’t actually trigger anything. There’s nothing that has to be done, nor did we state that anything should be done…there was no ask associated with it, it merely was an expression of our opinion. 

While she did not respond to a request for comment about rescinding the vote, Bishop told the Gazette that the decision came after feedback from her peers on the matter. 

“I am someone who appreciates feedback and information,” she told the Gazette. ”I didn’t have a guide book as to how to move forward with a vote of no confidence. I did what I thought would be best and now that it’s happened and I am receiving feedback, I am incorporating that into how I move forward.”

The Gazette also spoke to Lovett, who expressed his opposition for the vote of no confidence. He said he does not not take issue with any disagreement toward the bill, but does take issue with the voted action. 

“I do not mind that anyone may disagree with HB 2348 or with what I did in my personal capacity. I do not mind that anyone might share their disagreement with others in private or in public. I support their right to do so,” he said. “I do, however, care that Mallory Bishop, and those on the Faculty Senate who participated in the vote of no confidence, used their roles and capacities as public employees to malign my professional reputation, not because I have failed in any way to do my job, but because they oppose what I did as a private citizen.”