Letter to the Editor | Removal of professors is inconsistent with Vassar's mission

As co-Chairs of the English Majors' Committee, we are shocked and saddened by the College's decisions regarding the firing of Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Julia Rose and Visiting Associate Professor of English M. Mark.

Budget cuts must be made, but not at the cost of the curriculum.  As it stands, the English Department will lose professors who are responsible for the success of the creative writing program. These professors are beloved by their students and teach some of Vassar's most popular courses. There are a total of 172 students enrolled in creative writing courses for the spring semester, not all of them English majors. This is an issue that affects the community at large.


The Vassar College Mission Statement articulates the need to "meet the challenges of a complex world responsibly, actively and imaginatively." We could not agree more. Vassar College must uphold its curricular ideals by responding to this crisis in a way that it is consistent with its core objectives. In a letter to the Vassar community on Oct. 27, 2008, President Catharine Bond Hill stated that the College will continue to support the "sense of community and common purpose among our faculty, students, staff, administration and Board of Trustees." Furthermore, Hill writes that the policy to be enacted will be "dedicated to the educational mission of the College" which includes, according to said mission statement, "maintain[ing] and support[ing] a distinguished and diverse faculty in their commitment to teaching, to scholarship, and artistic endeavor." The firing of these two professors is inconsistent with these goals.


We are now appealing to the diverse alumnae/i that have left Vassar with the same sense of appreciation for Vassar's writing program. As much of Vassar's funding comes from the generous gifts of former students, we want to make them aware of these financial decisions.

We hope that these alumnae/i will express their allegiance to a program that shaped them as it continues to shape us.  Moreover, we ask that the administration will not only hear the voices of our community that have chosen to speak, but will also listen to them and recognize their value at Vassar.

—Co-Chair of the English Majors' Committee Kate Fussner '09 and co-Chair and English Department Academic Intern Sarah Yurch '09