This story reminds me of my days in Catholic school.

Kellie Woodhouse reports at Inside Higher Ed.

Monks Seek Shared Governance

Monks are suing trustees at Benedictine University in Illinois for shutting their religious order, which founded the institution 128 years ago, out of major decisions.

The monks want power to approve the institution’s next president and say the Board of Trustees has been unwilling to disclose possible conflicts of interest, despite repeated requests by the monks to do so and, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this week, mandates in Benedictine’s bylaws that require disclosure.

Benedictine is a Roman Catholic university that enrolls around 6,500 students and is 30 miles outside Chicago.

Father Austin Murphy, the abbot of St. Procopius Abbey, which is part of the order that founded Benedictine in 1887, says a group of seven members, comprised of Benedictine monks from the Abbey, is given leadership powers in the university’s bylaws that are being denied by the university and its trustees.

One of those powers, they contend, is to approve the president of the university. When longtime president William Carroll was elected in 1995, Abbot Murphy says, members approved the selection. Yet in the search for Carroll’s successor, members were denied a chance to meet finalists, despite repeated requests. They were also not consulted when trustees selected Michael Brophy to succeed Carroll, effective in August.