Joseph Sullivan

In June 2008, Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts, became the focus of media attention when Joseph Sullivan told a reporter that a group of girls at the school had made a pact to get pregnant and raise their children together. Later that month, local civic leaders and school officials disputed Sullivan's claims of a "pregnancy pact," saying the principal's memory had "failed." Sullivan resigned as the principal of the high school on August 12, 2008.¹

Fast Facts

1. August 12, 2008: Joseph Sullivan resigned as principal of Gloucester High School¹
2. June 2008: Sullivan claimed a group of girls at the school made a "pregnancy pact"¹
3. Sullivan made his comments in a Time Magazine interview²
4. School officials and Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk said there was no evidence of "any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant"¹
5. Kirk said Sullivan was "foggy in his memory" about the alleged pact¹
6. Sullivan later claimed that Kirk "publicly slandered my reputation, my integrity and my intelligence"¹
7. Sullivan's resignation is effective on August 15, 2008³

Quote

"I fully appreciate the fact that without the mayor’s and superintendent’s unqualified support the already difficult and challenging job of being the high school principal becomes next to impossible."¹—Joseph Sullivan

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