By Bill Shaner, News Staff
Three students went to Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management Philomena Mantella’s office yesterday afternoon to address the resignation of Associate Vice President for Student and Scholarship Services Scott Quint.
Quint resigned in mid-March, according to a university administrator. The general student body had not received notification.
He headed the International Students and Scholars institute (ISSI), an organization that develops a community for international students at Northeastern.
Quint resigned to “achieve personal and professional growth,” according to an e-mail sent to students involved with ISSI yesterday from Associate Vice President of Enrollment Ronné Turner, Quint’s boss. Other administrators confirmed that Quint left willingly, but wished to remain anonymous due to the matter’s sensitivity.
The students, however, felt that Quint’s exit was forced, not willing.
“Some things are obvious,” said Franco Solleza, president of Northeastern University Culture and Language Learning Society (NUCALLS) and orchestrator of the protest. “The first is that Scott Quint does not want to quit because he loves the job, he loves the students, he loves the staff. Which, in our assumption, sort of says that there’s something going on.”
Quint could not be reached for comment despite repeated phone calls and e-mails yesterday.
The university does not comment on personnel matters, Director Of Communications Renata Nyul said.
The students said they hoped to find out exactly why Quint resigned and request that the administration re-offer Quint his position at the meeting. But Mantella is out of the state for the week, so the students met with Mantella’s second-in-command, Seamus Harreys, dean of student financial services. Harreys promised the students a meeting with members of the administration and Quint early next week.
Because the meeting was impromptu and lacked clearance from the Office of Marketing and Communications, a reporter for The News was evicted and the rest of the dialogue between Harreys and the students remains confidential.
Solleza said he isn’t sure if the administration will follow through on their promise for a second meeting. He also said the resignation announcement, which he said he was informed of April 15, was poorly timed because it aligns with students’ final projects and tests.
Though the administration and students have differing opinions on why Quint resigned, both parties feel Quint made an impressive impact on the university.
“I feel like Scott was the one who provided space and he brought people together to create this community,” said Carolyn Luk, a middler international affairs and anthropology dual major who was at the meeting. “And I feel like he’s shown support for students like us so we should show support for him and stand up for what he believes in as well because he deserves it.”
But the students felt that the International Students and Scholars Institute (ISSI) will not be the same without Quint’s leadership.
“To me it’s like you take away the figure head, you take away the leader, and even if the people under him are perfectly competent and great workers, and there’s nothing wrong with them, you take away the leader and things kind of fall apart,” said president of the Italian Culture Society Jackie Bosco. “He’s the glue.”
The ISSI hosts fall and spring welcome days for international students and the International Carnevale, an annual cultural festival.
Some students said they felt these programs would end or at least diminish in importance without Quint’s leadership, but in Turner’s e-mail, she said the events will go on as scheduled. She also said Quint would assist the administration in the transition to new leadership.
