The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry is and always will be a vital pillar of University of the Pacific. Dugoni is rightly renowned for its humanistic approach to dentistry education – centering care, compassion and the highest standards of health education. 

In the past month, the Board of Regents has been informed of several concerns from the Dugoni community, including a detailed letter outlining specific complaints about University leadership on January 3, 2025, the resignation of Dean Nader Nadershahi a few days later, as well as strong statements from faculty, staff and students. 

We want everyone to know that we take their input extremely seriously and want to advise them of where things now stand.

Actions Taken by the Board of Regents

On January 3, the Board of Regents began an intensive, time-sensitive fact-finding mission. The Board convened a special meeting on January 7 and continued throughout the week to review pertinent documentation, examine communications from community members and engage with subject matter experts to assess the situation and determine whether a violation of law or University policy had occurred. On Monday, January 13, we reviewed the report.

Conclusion of Regents Review

The Regents analyzed key details from the complaint, including concerns about financial reporting discrepancies, admission numbers, budgetary allocations and communication breakdowns. Upon review, this report conclusively satisfied us that there had been no violation of University policy or law that would warrant a formal investigation.

It is clear, however, that, while not a result of intentional wrongdoing or policy violations, there has been a troubling breakdown of communication. Everyone involved has a deep passion for our institution and its students – and that the very real concerns from Dugoni are rooted in how priorities are aligned between the University leadership and the Dugoni community. These communications problems are significant – and must be fixed. 

Resolute Support for the President  

When we hired Chris Callahan, he was tasked with amplifying and elevating University of the Pacific, improving metrics on student success, innovative partnerships and programmatic growth. We asked him to be a bold and audacious President, and he has fulfilled that mission. 

Under his leadership, the university has seen record breaking student enrollment, strong financial stability, new capital projects, a thriving fund-raising program, cultural engagement initiatives and our best national ranking in history. He has embraced this challenge while simultaneously demonstrating a deep commitment and care for our community and its values – and we applaud President Callahan on the progress and success that he has brought to the University.

At the same time, we recognize that change is not always easy. When a leader is brought in to be a disruptor, it is inevitable that some will be uncomfortable with that disruption. At Dugoni, it appears to have been a particularly challenging period.

As a result, after listening to the concerns of faculty and students, we have asked the President to prioritize his collaborative work with Dugoni. It is important that everyone understands that President Callahan has made clear that he is fully on board with that mission – and he has already paused plans for programmatic expansions and operational changes at Dugoni.

Similarly, we ask our Dugoni staff, faculty and students to move forward in the same spirit of collaboration. The challenges we face here are solvable but require everyone to open their hearts and minds to new ways of thinking and collaborating. The Regents have confidence that relationships can be repaired and improved – but only if all are committed to the core belief that the strength of our University is derived from the connections between our campuses, our shared values and our belief that we are one united team committed to excellence for all.

Standing by University Values

The values of the University of the Pacific have been clear and consistent since 2015. 

Just last fall, University of the Pacific inaugurated its first all-campus read of “I Never Thought of It that Way” by Mónica Guzmán and invited her to spend two days with our community. Chapter 12 is titled “Values,” and it explains how most people have the same values in life – a wish for safety, community, the well-being of others. She describes research positing that “what matters isn’t which values each of us holds, but their relative order of importance.” She also explains that people “mistake a different ordering of values for an absence of the ones that they think matter most.” 

We believe that the leaders of all our departments deeply embrace those core values so wisely laid out by Ms. Guzmán, but we also feel there may be a difference in the prioritization of those values depending on the responsibilities of those individual leaders. These differences in prioritization can cause moments of tension, but they are both expected and helpful for fostering growth, innovation and robust debate at a thriving academic institution like ours.

Charting a Path Forward

The Board of Regents recognizes the sincerity and importance of the concerns raised by members of Dugoni and believes that they deserve further conversation and consideration. As such, we have established an ad hoc committee of Regents as an avenue for the Dugoni community to speak to their priorities, including discussions about shared governance and school autonomy. We have established an email where you can reach the ad hoc committee: regentsadhoc@pacific.edu. The ad hoc committee is already reaching out to stakeholders who have contacted the Regents to begin to schedule meetings.

Once the ad hoc committee has listened to and digested that feedback, they will present their findings to the Board of Regents so that we can make informed decisions about Dugoni that best reflect our shared values for the future of the University. These insights will inform Provost Edwalds-Gilbert as she leads the search for the next Dean and will be imperative in setting the new leader up for success.

We are proud to have fostered an organization where so many feel comfortable voicing and debating differences of opinion in the pursuit of a shared goal. We thank you for sharing your views with us, and we feel confident that we can resolve these issues and rise stronger for it.