Governor resigns after 'losing faith' in board members

A governor has resigned from the governing board at Middlesex University because he has "lost faith in the board entirely".

In a letter of resignation to the other 24 governors, Jonathan Ree said that he no longer believed he could contribute "usefully to the deliberations of the board".

He said: "I have come to believe that the board persistently neglects its duty to look after the university as a cultural institution as well as a business, and I am now persuaded that it is not sufficiently independent of the executive to be able to do its job properly."

In an email to all staff entitled "Why I resigned from the board of governors", Mr Ree said: "I have always been impressed by the conscientiousness with which most members of the board approach their duties as governors. However, they are all volunteers, and most of them have onerous business outside the board: even with the best will in the world they cannot be expected to form genuinely independent judgements on every matter that comes before them."

Mr Ree, who has been a staff governor since May 1996, and has worked at the university for 25 years, said that he originally offered his resignation in October 1997, after expressing concerns that the board was "failing in its duty to conduct open critical debate covering ranges of policy choice". The chair of governors promised to review the situation. Mr Ree felt that his concerns had not been addressed.

In June, the chair of the board wrote to Mr Ree and pointed out that "every employee owes a duty of good faith and loyalty to his employer, which includes not breaching confidentiality or the contract of employment, not competing with him or publicly criticising him".

Mr Ree has been central to a row at Middlesex over freedom of speech. He wrote an article for the university newsletter, North Circular, which attacked a "culture of fearful conformity" at the university. The article, published by the Index on Censorship, was censored by senior managers. The dispute also led to the suspension and "redeployment" of Suzi Clark, North Circular's editor, who wanted to publish the critical article.

Gareth Jones, the clerk to governors, confirmed that Mr Ree had resigned, "as any board member is entitled to do", but he refused to comment on the specific criticisms. It is understood that a review of the board's "effectiveness", initiated after Mr Ree's initial complaints, is now underway.