This article has been updated as of June 14, 2025 to account for the Faculty Senate’s formal initiation of a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Haefner. This article was updated again on July 3, 2025 to include the results of the vote of no confidence in Chancellor Haefner and his subsequent response.
On Wednesday, June 4, the University of Denver’s Faculty Senate voted to express no confidence in Chancellor Jeremy Haefner.
Only senators who attended the May 30 meeting were able to vote on the issue. Of the 83 that submitted votes, 58% (48) voted yes, 35% (29) voted no and 7% (6) abstained.
Now that the motion has passed, the Faculty Senate will soon call for an “anonymous referendum of the full faculty of the University of Denver on the question of no confidence in Jeremy Haefner.” This will look like another Qualtrics online vote sent to the entirety of the DU faculty.
On Thursday morning, the Board of Trustees sent an email to faculty and staff. The statement echoed comments previously made by board representatives, continuing to emphasize the need to collaborate with the chancellor and warning of the potential harms that could come to the university as a result of a vote of no confidence.
“Such action could critically damage the university — and all its stakeholders — at a time of great vulnerability,” the email read.
Notably, the email did not contain any claims that faculty dissatisfaction is informed by misleading or inaccurate information, a significant point of contention at the meeting on May 30 that triggered the vote.
The email further encouraged faculty to consider statements made at the meeting and to consider the resolution passed unanimously last week in support of the chancellor when casting their votes.
“We are unwavering in our belief and confidence that he is the right leader for DU now and going forward,” the email stated.
While the email was sent too late to change the outcome of the vote made by faculty senators, it might still affect remaining faculty members, all of whom will now individually decide whether to express no confidence in Chancellor Haefner.
This isn’t the first time that the Faculty Senate has voted to express no confidence in a chancellor at DU. In 1984, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to fire Chancellor Ross Pritchard after faculty voted no confidence and demanded he resign.
In 2017, researchers examined 57 colleges and universities, finding that in over half the instances in which there was a vote of no confidence, executive leadership changed within 6 months.
The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS), which employs the largest number of faculty, has already voted twice to express no confidence.
Faculty-wide voting on the motion of no confidence in Chancellor Jeremy Haefner began on June 12. All eligible faculty members received a personalized Qualtrics link to cast their anonymous votes. The polls remained open until June 26.
Following the Faculty Senate’s passed resolution of no confidence in Chancellor Haefner, all individual faculty members had the opportunity to vote whether they had confidence last week. Of the 822 eligible faculty, 70% (577) voted, with 56% (324) voting that they had no confidence in the chancellor. While 37% (211) remained confident and 7% (42) chose to abstain.
On June 30, Chancellor Haefner addressed the results in an email to faculty and staff, writing: “This vote is a call to engage and listen constructively. It is also a time to come together and care for one another healing from a truly challenging year. Partnering together, we must work to ensure an extraordinary future for DU… I remain committed to the work ahead and look forward to collaborating with our faculty, staff and — of course — students, to make this institution stronger.”
