Two university French professors who had their contracts terminated in June 2011 saw their lawsuit against the university come to a close when they settled out of court on Tuesday, March 21. The settlement amounts, however, have not yet been released.
The lawsuit originated when the university terminated the contracts of three French professors and the French program due to budget cuts in 2010.
Three French language professors, Drs. Margaret Marshall, Evelyne Bornier and Katherine Kolb, were fired by the administration and given a year to complete their contracts in June 2010.
According to Kolb, an institution cannot terminate or reduce a program without first having a full consultation with its students, faculty and the department head.  Kolb claims that no such consultation was had with the French department and that she was never officially notified about the end of the program.  
The three professors filed suit against the university’s administration and the University of Louisiana System, while one of the cases was dismissed, two of the professors pursued their lawsuit.
Kolb’s case was dismissed by Judge William Morvant, of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, when he determined that she had retired before actually being fired by Southeastern.
After finding out that their professors and their program were slated for termination, many French students rallied together to organize protests. One included a mock jazz funeral, which was held in November 2010.
French major and Southeastern alumni Kyle Berry said the dismissal of the French program and all three teachers was not only harsh, but it was detrimental to higher education as a whole.
“What occurred to the French program at Southeastern Louisiana University was an assault on all university and higher education programs,” said Berry.
Berry said the French professors were humiliated by the move made by the university to all-out cut the French program.
“I was forced to watch my professors, women who have done so much for me in the course of my studies, have their careers dragged through the mud and their tenures revoked. It’s truly disgraceful what has occurred at Southeastern.”
One of the reasons the administration gave for terminating the department was that there were not enough students completing and graduating from the program. According to Berry, this was not the case.    
“Our numbers spoke strongly against the university’s stance on low completion majors, as our number of enrolled students equaled that of the Spanish department yet French was the only language major cut,” said Berry. “There is no reason why the university could not have combined the French program along with the other language majors and minors.”
After being contacted to comment on the lawsuit, Executive Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs Erin Cowser asserted that the university remained firm on its original stance.
“Southeastern has reached a reasonable settlement with faculty members terminated as a result of the discontinuance of the French and French education degree programs,” Cowser said. “While the administration maintains that it complied with institutional and system policies governing program discontinuance, [the] settlement allows the institution to avoid the significant costs associated with ongoing litigation. Program discontinuance was one of many budget reduction strategies pursued by Southeastern in response to the extraordinary reductions in state resources experienced over the last several years.”