2008 Woodie Awards
Reader's Forum: Fury with administration over graduate program cancellations
Victor Svorinich
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
To the Editor:
The precession and the demise of the English and Modern History and Literature graduate programs are an utter disgrace to this once prestigious university.
The lives of many existing graduate students-and for that matter, graduated students-are essentially ruined. How are these students expected to achieve employment in academia when their resumes display graduation from a program that no longer exists? I hope our new president is satisfied for destroying a once great liberal arts college and the lives of the student body and faculty that it is comprised of. For me, it was no surprise at all. This is why I began applying to other universities that would support me both academically and financially.
The indications of this fall came early. As the review process proceeded, the faculty had to make sacrifices which cut into their time and efforts which could have been allotted to the current student body's academic needs. As false optimism was initiated through the English faculty to the students, the axe fell. The same scenario occurred within the MHL faculty shortly after. In between all of this optimism, a sense of abandonment toward the student body occurred.
There was a sense of the faculty "pushing away" the students and directly or indirectly advising them to start seeking other academic pursuits. Earlier in this semester, the push strengthened. When the spring course offerings for MHL students was limited to mainly undergraduate courses at off times and two faculty members of a very limited staff decide to take a sabbatical leave, it gives the student body the feeling that other priorities have come in front of the actual jobs that we are paying them to do.
Although the MHL faculty tried to fight this-and for mainly their own reasons I'm sure-I cannot believe that they were na've to think that this was not inevitable. Shame on this administration for continually taking our money when they knew what was to happen all along. I sure hope legal actions will be pursued.
Victor Svorinich
(G '10)
The precession and the demise of the English and Modern History and Literature graduate programs are an utter disgrace to this once prestigious university.
The lives of many existing graduate students-and for that matter, graduated students-are essentially ruined. How are these students expected to achieve employment in academia when their resumes display graduation from a program that no longer exists? I hope our new president is satisfied for destroying a once great liberal arts college and the lives of the student body and faculty that it is comprised of. For me, it was no surprise at all. This is why I began applying to other universities that would support me both academically and financially.
The indications of this fall came early. As the review process proceeded, the faculty had to make sacrifices which cut into their time and efforts which could have been allotted to the current student body's academic needs. As false optimism was initiated through the English faculty to the students, the axe fell. The same scenario occurred within the MHL faculty shortly after. In between all of this optimism, a sense of abandonment toward the student body occurred.
There was a sense of the faculty "pushing away" the students and directly or indirectly advising them to start seeking other academic pursuits. Earlier in this semester, the push strengthened. When the spring course offerings for MHL students was limited to mainly undergraduate courses at off times and two faculty members of a very limited staff decide to take a sabbatical leave, it gives the student body the feeling that other priorities have come in front of the actual jobs that we are paying them to do.
Although the MHL faculty tried to fight this-and for mainly their own reasons I'm sure-I cannot believe that they were na've to think that this was not inevitable. Shame on this administration for continually taking our money when they knew what was to happen all along. I sure hope legal actions will be pursued.
Victor Svorinich
(G '10)
Be the first to comment on this story