Letter to the Editor

In Olmstead v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote, “Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.”

The same insight can be applied to institutional actions in general. 

What then are the substantive and procedural lessons to be derived from USD’s decision to fire 13 staff and three faculty?        

In this privileged environment, students are encouraged to confront essential questions, including: “Who am I?”, “What are my duties to myself?”, “What are my duties to others and the world in which we live?”

In our time at USD, we have been honored and humbled to observe many students using their liberal arts education to give voice to the voiceless, offer support to those in need and work for the benefit of their communities. 

In this work, our students demonstrate a clear understanding of the importance of community and the inherent value of other humans.  It is paramount  to proclaim that students learn the values of community, advocacy and respect from their time at the university.

These firing decisions, however, strike a dissonant chord and we are concerned by the message they send and the grief and loss they cause.

We hope students, faculty and administration will consider some of the questions raised by the decision to terminate members of the university family.

Does the substance of these termination decisions and the manner in which they were carried out represent the best this university has to offer in response to budgetary concerns?

Are other regental institutions reacting in similarly blunt and brutal fashion or have they devised more creative and compassionate plans of action?        

If our circumstances are so dire as to require significant sacrifice, then why are all of us not being asked to shoulder the burden more equitably?

How can it be right to ask our brothers and sisters who are paid the least to sacrifice the most? Has the university decided to treat these employees as a means to a less inherently valuable end? If so, is this ethical?

We write because:

1) We believe that one purpose of a liberal arts institution is to provide students with the ability and compassion to be neither indifferent to suffering nor disinclined to mercy and justice. We respectfully submit that these decisions appear to lack both justice and mercy and we question the decision to jettison those virtues.

2) We believe the decision to fire employees rather than search for other methods to decrease expenditures is unfortunate. We know the university community is capable of far more creative and intelligent problem solving. 

3) If indeed the decision was unavoidable, we wonder why the university chose to inform the affected employees in such a crude and callous manner. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

Students, faculty and administration, we encourage you to join us in speaking about what matters: the individuals affected by these decisions. 

To those who have lost their jobs:

We express our dismay, condolences and support. We acknowledge the devastating financial blow to you and your families. We realize this may force you to relocate. We worry that it will be difficult to find employment and that you might not be able to pay the added costs for health insurance. We recognize and applaud your years of service. We hope you know that we do not think only of “the number of people laid off.” We see your faces and remember your stories and contributions. 


Michael P. Roche
Professor of Criminal Justice

Steve Feimer
Professor of Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice Department Chair

Lila Rucker
Professor of Criminal Justice

Cassandra McKeown
Professor of Criminal Justice
 

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

11 comments

alumna

Thu Apr 23 2009 14:20

Good for all of you! This took courage.

Sandy McKeown

Tue Apr 21 2009 21:33

Dear Jim,
In response to your question: Yes. If you would like to discuss the reasons why, please feel free to stop by my office at 132 Dakota Hall.
Regards,
Sandy Mckeown

Jim

Tue Apr 21 2009 20:13

Would they have written this if their secretary didn't get fired?

Alum

Fri Apr 17 2009 11:22

Here in the private sector (what some would call "the real world" (although I am not so sure anymore)) many are losing their jobs. Wasn't it bound to happen at the University, then, as well?

Congratulations to the writers of the letter for having the courage to sign their name to a letter that publicly questions the University administration. Doing so took some courage.

Your name

Wed Apr 15 2009 23:39

Well said. Good people are suffering. Those who bear the brunt of that suffering are the one who can least afford to. I almost chucked my computer at the wall when I went to the USD homepage, and they had this big, glorious declarance of USD's move to the Summit League for D1 atheletics. I had to ask myself with everything else that is going on; The mishandling of promise scholarships, the callous firing of people who really cannot afford to lose their jobs, who gives a damn what athletic league we're in?

Elizabeth Rahn

Wed Apr 15 2009 23:14

I have to agree with the authors, the University could have found better ways to cut costs, a knee-jerk reaction is to get rid of people, but in the long run that usually hurts rather than helps. Career Service employees have no recourse when it comes to firings so they take the brunt of any cutbacks.

Your name

Wed Apr 15 2009 22:44

These people should be running our university. Reading this was absolutely inspiring.

Your name

Wed Apr 15 2009 21:35

Quote from: faculty
"I'll bet these professors didn't learn to write effectively in science or allied health classes. They're likely the products of good, traditional liberal arts education that teaches writing and critical thinking. Science may seem to be where the money is, but being able to think critically and to express oneself effectively, orally and in writing, in one's own language are skills that get our students jobs. I salute these professors' espousal of humane values."

This faculty member's comment bugged me. Yes it was a well written letter of opinion, I think it was wonderful as well. I feel for those who suffer from the budget cuts. I don't, however, understand why this commenting faculty member opted to take a jab at science programs (if they even are, it seemed like a subtle insult to the ability of science programs to prepare students for the real world). The traditional liberal arts education includes science and mathematics, according to the almighty wiki-god. I would like to invite them to register in some science classes next year and then see what they have to say about 'critical thinking.' Many of our undergraduate science students engage in extracurricular research during the school year and the summer as well, and churn out wonderful research reports and presentations-- that require the ability to "think critically and express oneself effectively." Many science courses require research papers that, because of the density of the subject material, exercise clear and expressive writing. The point of a liberal arts education is a well rounded exposure to many fields to gain associated skills. As a faculty member in a liberal arts environment, I don't think one should hold a bias against colleagues' fields of study and programs. After all, they are all there to complement what each field has to offer in providing strong, diverse educational foundations in students. Many of USD's brightest students are in the sciences, who likely benefited from their writing experiences in other classes. Yes there is alot of money in science, but more importantly if USD wants to remain competitive with other schools they desperately need to improve the strength of their lackluster science programs!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts

ps. Writing well and expressing oneself clearly are skills where 75% of USD students should make some serious improvements.

faculty

Wed Apr 15 2009 16:37

I'll bet these professors didn't learn to write effectively in science or allied health classes. They're likely the products of good, traditional liberal arts education that teaches writing and critical thinking. Science may seem to be where the money is, but being able to think critically and to express oneself effectively, orally and in writing, in one's own language are skills that get our students jobs. I salute these professors' espousal of humane values.

Lydia Graslie

Wed Apr 15 2009 13:20

I agree. This is pertinent and well said.

student

Wed Apr 15 2009 09:13

This is very well written and the point is well taken! Thank you for speaking up about what/who is important!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out