In her resignation letter, the now former dean of Florida A&M University’s law school explained she had to step down because the university’s treatment of her was getting “abusive.”
In the Jan. 31 letter Deidre Keller wrote to FAMU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Allyson Watson, she expressed how her protestations about the law school’s bar exam passage rates “fell on deaf ears.”
“Specifically, at this juncture, it is clear that the university’s vision for the College of Law no longer resonates with my vision for sustained success at the college,” she wrote in the letter, provided to the Tallahassee Democrat by Keller after an email request.
“My efforts to strengthen the college’s student body, its relationship with the bar, bench, surrounding community, its alumni and the university have recently been met with behavior on the part of the university that can only be properly characterized as abusive,” she added.
The university does not comment on personnel matters, a university spokesperson said. Keller remains on the College of Law’s faculty, and Associate Provost of Academic Programs Cecil Howard has taken on the dean’s role temporarily ahead of an interim appointment.