OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. told OU Daily at the March 10 OU Board of Regents meeting that he met with the OU Faculty Senate Executive Committee twice regarding former graduate instructor Mel Curth’s termination.
The president’s statement comes a month after the Faculty Senate approved a resolution affirming the university did not consult the Senate Executive Committee on Curth’s termination.
According to a Dec. 22 statement from the university, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee was involved in discussions throughout OU’s investigation and determination regarding Curth.
“I sat down with the Faculty Senate exec on at least two occasions … two from me and then one with (Vice President of Executive Affairs) Hollye Hunt. We’ve had conversations about this,” Harroz said.
The Daily reached out to Faculty Senate Chair Sarah Robbins for clarification on the resolution’s meaning in relation to Harroz’s assertion. Robbins confirmed in a March 10 email that Harroz and Hunt met with the faculty senate executive committee regarding Curth’s termination.
Robbins wrote the issue “is a matter of semantics.”
“We were not consulted about the decision. As President Harroz indicated, we were informed of the decision,” Robbins wrote. “I do not think it would have been appropriate for us to have been consulted about the decision in an HR matter, and I noted that during the discussion about the resolution at the Senate meeting.”
Robbins wrote the resolution was a response to concerns over the “implied” meaning of the university’s statement.
“Some senators felt like the statement issued by OU implied that the Faculty Senate Executive Committee had been consulted about the decision and wanted to go on record indicating that was not the case,” Robbins wrote.
Harroz said he appreciates the Faculty Senate’s work and believes the discrepancy comes from the use of the word “consulting.”
“I appreciate the fact that we have a Faculty Senate and the fact that they’re a part of this, … Harroz said. “They may have taken issue with the word ‘consulting.’ A part of it was informational and so I understand the position they’ve taken. I respect the body and the action they take.”
The resolution was proposed at a Feb. 9 Faculty Senate meeting, during which Robbins and faculty senator Dean Hougen discussed the extent to which the executive committee spoke to the administration during the investigation.
“The administration talked to the executive, but the executive was not involved in the decision-making process. … You guys didn’t say, ‘Yes, we should do this,’” Hougen said.
“No. Nor should we have. I don’t think that would be appropriate,” Robbins responded.
The statement issued by the university on Dec. 22 did not use the word consulting, stating rather that the university “engaged in repeated and detailed conversations” with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
A statement from the University of Oklahoma: pic.twitter.com/FzcjByOjpp
— University of Oklahoma (@UofOklahoma) December 22, 2025
Background
On Feb. 13, the Faculty Senate approved a resolution affirming that the university did not consult the Senate Executive Committee regarding Curth’s termination despite the university’s assertion that it did.
“OU issued a statement on Dec 22nd that identifies the University as having engaged in ‘repeated and detailed conversations with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to ensure there is an understanding of the facts, the process, and the actions being taken’ regarding terminating instructional duties for a graduate teaching assistant, …” the resolution reads. “The OU Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Faculty Senate were neither solicited for input on the decision nor endorsed the decision of the administration on this matter.”
On Jan. 2, the American Association of University Professors petitioned the university with over 25,000 signatures in support of Curth, who was removed for giving a failing grade on a Bible-based essay. The Faculty Senate resolution endorsed the petition.
“Let it be resolved that the OU Faculty Senate: 1. Fully endorses the requests for action outlined by the OU-AAUP petition titled ‘Defend OU Instructors and Academic Freedom,’” the resolution reads.
At the Feb. 9 meeting, Mashhad Fahes, associate professor of petroleum and geological engineering and Faculty Senate Executive Committee parliamentarian, said that the university falsely implying the Faculty Senate’s support caused members to receive criticism for a decision they were not involved in.
“A lot of senators received emails, basically accusing them of betrayal,” Fahes said.
After the Feb. 9 meeting, Fabio de Sa e Silva, an associate professor of international studies and faculty senator, told the Daily that it is important to clarify what happened and to convey the accurate interests of faculty and graduate students.
“The statement that the university issued in December doesn’t reflect the truth,” Silva said. “It implies that the Faculty (Senate) have been consulted and that (they) were part of, and supported, the decision that was made to remove Mel Curth from her teaching duties.”
Michael Givel, OU political science professor and OU-AAUP president, wrote in a March 11 email to the Daily the university’s response to the situation does not reflect shared governance.
“Shared governance with faculty and instructors in this situation is a key means of protecting and enhancing academic freedom and fair appeals of grades,” Givel wrote. “Providing OU’s version of information and not consulting any faculty member or group on campus is the opposite of this.”
University administration held a meeting with the Graduate Student Senate executive committee on Feb. 10 to discuss the termination of Curth. According to a March 11 email to the Daily from Graduate Student Senate Chair Summer Edwards, Provost André-Denis Wright invited the senate to engage in further discussion regarding the case.
“While the provost has invited GSS executives to continue conversations surrounding graduate student protections, there has not been another conversation,” Edwards wrote.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Madisson Cameron and Audrey McClour. Andrew Paredes, Larkin Bock and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story.
