Photo by Samuel Jackson for The Lafayette

College President Nicole Hurd stands outside Marquis Hall with other administrators before entering the Tuesday faculty meeting.

Lafayette College President Nicole Hurd lost a faculty no-confidence vote on Tuesday, becoming the first president in the college’s nearly 200-year history to do so.

The no-confidence motion passed 102-86 with six abstentions, according to the Clerk of the Faculty Joshua Smith.

“The whole meeting was really taken up with this motion,” Government & Law Professor John Kincaid said. “There were plenty of speakers on both sides of the motion, so it was a very vigorous debate.”

While symbolic, the vote spells uncertainty for the future of Hurd’s presidency. The faculty called upon the Board of Trustees to address what it called a “leadership crisis.”

“It doesn’t feel like a win when it’s something so serious for the College,” wrote Caroline Lee, the anthropology and sociology department head and one of the motion’s 10 original authors, in an email. “It’s not our job to decide the next step, but I hope that we have a quick resolution and can get back to moving forward at this incredible institution.”

Hurd declined to comment.

“Lafayette College is fortunate to have faculty and staff who care deeply about the institution and its future success,” college spokesman Scott Morse wrote in a statement.

“During her tenure at Lafayette, President Hurd has always valued constructive dialogue with faculty and staff in all departments,” Morse wrote. “She acknowledges the vote and pledges to continue working closely with the faculty to advance the academic mission of the College.”

About 51% of no-confidence votes end with the president leaving office within a year, an analysis from the Chronicle of Higher Education found. Lafayette’s Board of Trustees is the only body with the ability to remove Hurd from office.

However, removal is not the only possible outcome and the board is not obligated to pursue any action. It is unclear how or when they will proceed.

Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Sell wrote in an email that the trustees will convene “to discuss the faculty meeting and its outcome” sometime this week, adding that a statement would come after this meeting.

Student reactions to the faculty’s decision are mixed.

“She seems like she cares, but if she cares about the wrong things, that might be a little bit problematic for the rest of us non-athletes,” Mika Harari ’28 said. “She was always sweet, she was never mean, at least from my experience.”

“Going over all the professor’s heads to make a unilateral decision seems pretty scummy,” said Matthew O’Leary ’26, who clarified he “skimmed” the motion.

“I didn’t really know any of this until my professors were talking about it,” Natalie Myers ’28 said. “I liked her.”

The faculty meeting in which the vote occurred lasted over two hours inside Marquis Hall. The meeting was preceded by a student demonstration, in which over 150 students — primarily student-athletes — gathered to show support for Hurd. The event was advertised in multiple sports and class GroupMe chats.

The motion states that Hurd has “harmed the institution of Lafayette College” by deprioritizing its academic mission and excluding the faculty from decision-making.

“The past three and half years of the Hurd administration have generated a working environment that no longer allows us to fully thrive in our jobs as teacher-scholars and as staff members,” the motion reads.

Andreas Pelekis ’26 contributed reporting.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.