President Conboy releases email defending accusations

Katie Conboy, president of Saint Mary’s College, published an email Tuesday afternoon with the subject line “Strengthening Our Ties” and included a response to “misinformation” circulating on campus. The email specifically addressed topics regarding Saint Mary’s governance, Board of Trustees and faculty that Conboy says “contradicts and diminishes (students’) positive campus experience.”

“To be clear, even unintentional misinformation harms these valued members of our community, and I take seriously my responsibility to correct it,” she said in the email.

Conboy took issue with information from last November about the now-withdrawn non-discrimination story, stating that it was released before the Board of Trustees was “ready” to issue a statement. The updated wording of the policy was originally published on Saint Mary’s official website in June 2023. She wrote in her email that the policy is “no longer on the table.”

“I hope this can help all members of our extended community who remain at that time to work toward the unity we strive for and to accept that the board has acknowledged mistakes and apologized for them in December,” she wrote .

Conboy later elaborated on other “key examples of misinformation” in her email.

The first explanation that Conboy refutes is the perceived loss of a Catholic identity on campus. She pointed to a letter written by the president of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Sister M. Veronique (Wiedower), CSC ’70, which was in response to an earlier Observer article about the newly formed Loretto Trust.

She then responded to an allegation tailored to the educational programs offered on campus. She said the “Avenue curriculum is under construction” and will implement general education requirements. She also said the courses currently offered on campus are “completely aligned” with those offered by several other Catholic liberal arts colleges.

“Saint Mary’s will continue to require courses in theology, religious studies and philosophy, all of which are foundational in the Catholic intellectual tradition,” Conboy wrote.

She also said that individuals who allegedly made statements about “inappropriate and unsuitable material in their courses” did not register or read the course materials they referenced.

“We will protect the academic freedom of faculty members to choose the texts, materials and methodologies they use in their fields,” she said.

Conboy continued to contradict the allegations by pointing to a letter to the Board of Trustees that claimed the school had lost 87 students from its freshman class during this 2023-2024 school year. She said the retention rate between the fall and spring semesters was 98%, an all-time high in recent years.

Finally, Conboy commented on the accusation that the College was falling behind in fundraising for the current school year. In response, she stated that the 2024 Donor Challenge has raised the largest amount in the history of its creation. She also said that the College is in a “quiet phase of a comprehensive campaign,” and that this campaign has “already surpassed” the total of all other SMC campaigns. Conboy compared endowment growth as of June 2020 of $199.2 million to their last quarterly report of $323.4 million.

She asked students to contact the College if they wanted clarification on information they might hear in passing and promoted news sources about events taking place on campus offered by Saint Mary’s. These resources include their digital newsletter, SMC Stories, their digital alumni newsletter, Bridge, and an upcoming series of webinars, an idea that emerged from listening sessions in January and February.

“I hope we can move into the future together with a continued commitment to seeking the truth and using it to strengthen our bonds,” Conboy said.