Elizabeth Fitzgerald ’15
Copy & Features Editor
Major press was given to the Merrimack College community recently for all the wrong reasons. Information was released on September 19, regarding the arrest and fire of Professor Gary Spring who also held the position as the Chair of the Engineering Department here at Merrimack. With his positions now open, the question of who will take his place still stands.
Spring’s firing wasn’t a surprise to most of the faculty of Merrimack. “We started planning back in June when we had to put him on a paid leave of absence,” explains James Chiavelli, Merrimack’s Associate Vice-President of Communications. Chiavelli explains that Professor Marc Veletzos has stepped up to the plate as Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Civil Engineering. Most importantly, Spring’s classes were something that needed to be taught. Staff members within the department took on larger roles and are teaching the courses that Spring would be teaching this semester. A search for someone to permanently fill his place is currently in action.
As it was previously mentioned in The Beacon’s last edition, Spring was put on a leave of absence back in June when the IT Department at Merrimack found a virus reporting suspicious activity on the loner computer her got from the school. After an in depth search by the FBI of Spring’s home in Danvers and his Merrimack College office, he was “arrested and arraigned on federal charges related to the possession of child pornography” according to the statement send out by President Christopher E. Hopey. The President also stands behind Merrimack College by further stating, “I know you all share my firm belief that the alleged actions of Mr. Spring are not reflective of our community as a whole or the vast majority of our faculty, staff and students.”
