You just have to drown the bunnies … put a Glock to their heads." Two professors who objected to the president's policies were abruptly terminated without severance. One, Ed Egan, was the faculty adviser of The Mountain Echo, while the other, Thane Naberhaus, was a tenured professor who had publicly questioned the president's actions. The two were told they were fired because they had violated "a duty of loyalty" to the university. University provost David Rehm also objected to the president's plan and was asked to resign as provost but allowed to keep his faculty position. Professors throughout America protested the terminations and denounced them as retribution. Over 8,000 scholars digitally signed a petition for them to be reinstated, while organizations such as the American Association of University Professors, Student Press Law Center, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education issued statements condemning Newman's actions. On February 12, 2016, the Mount St. Mary's faculty issued a resolution asking Newman to resign; on that same day, Newman announced at a faculty meeting that the two fired professors would be reinstated. On February 29, 2016, the university announced Newman's resignation. In a statement, Newman said that he cared deeply about the university, and that the recent publicity in regards to his leadership became "too great of a distraction to our mission of educating students." Connection to Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College in Indiana French missionary Simon Bruté spent two decades as teacher and pastor in the formative years of Mount St. Mary's. He was considered "one of the foremost scholars in America," and he had a great deal of influence on the Catholic Church in America. In 1834, he was appointed the founding bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. In 1832, Father Stephen Badin of Indiana purchased 524 acres of land surrounding two lakes near South Bend, Indiana, and when he retired in 1835 he deeded the property to the Diocese of Vincennes. It was Father Badin's dream that a school would be established there. Bruté visited the South Bend property and described it as "a most desirable spot, and one soon I hope to be occupied by some prosperous institution." In 1836, Bruté traveled to France seeking funds and priests for his diocese, and one of the priests he recruited was Father Edward Sorin, the founder of Notre Dame. After Bruté's death in 1839, his successor, Bishop Hailandière, offered