In 1999, in the process of creating departments of Art of the Americas and of European Art, which Rogers saw as a necessary unifying of the old divisions between paintings and decorative arts, and in preparation for the creation of the Art of the Americas Wing, the positions of two senior curators, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks (28 years tenure) and Anne Poulet (20 years tenure), were eliminated and the curators awarded Emeritus status. However, this rapidly became a ‘firing’ story in the media, and in academic circles was seen as an attack on tenure. Some MFA supporters were outraged. A number of art historians and staff at other art museums criticized Rogers' management style for featuring centralized decision-making (rather than individual curators retaining control over their fiefdoms) and for allegedly prioritizing financial stability over scholarship. Rogers, however, rejected these charges, saying that he was restructuring the organization, in order to bring paintings and decorative arts into closer conversation, as exemplified in the galleries of the new wing, and to bring overall directional focus to the MFA and not simply to centralize power.