From: Lisa Minnick, WMU-AAUP President
To: WMU College of Arts and Sciences faculty
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Dear CAS faculty colleagues:
As many of you have heard, Provost Tim Greene has elected not to renew the contract of CAS dean Alex Enyedi when it expires at the end of June.
In a message circulated to CAS department chairs earlier today, which he has asked them to share with faculty and staff (some of you have therefore already seen it), Alex makes clear that it is not his wish to step down as dean and that he is “deeply disappointed by the decision” and has “great concerns on how this will impact the College of Arts and Sciences.”
Many of us in the college surely share these concerns and have additional ones about the unceremonious nature of Alex’s firing, a decision that I believe will be hard for the provost to justify in light of Alex’s outstanding record of service to the college and to this institution.
As some of you will recall, nearly 91 percent of us answered “yes” to the question of whether we wanted Alex to continue as dean in the most recent faculty evaluation of the dean conducted by the WMU-AAUP.
I am writing today to ask those of you who still feel that way to show your support for Alex by attending the public session of the annual meeting of the WMU Board of Trustees tomorrow at 11 a.m. in rooms 157-159 of the Bernhard Center.
A large turnout by CAS faculty will send a powerful message to the board, who may not be getting a clear picture of the quality of Alex’s leadership in the college. Additionally, I am encouraging you to consider signing up to speak on Alex’s behalf – and indeed, on behalf of the future of our college – during the meeting’s public comment period.
Other ways faculty can help to support Alex:
- Write to the Board of Trustees, President Dunn, and Provost Greene.
- Publish your letters online and/or send them to the WMU-AAUP to post on the chapter blog.
- Use social medial to express your support (hashtags #IStandWithAlex and #CASstrong).
- Attend the WMU-AAUP chapter meeting for further discussion on Friday, January 23 (1:30 p.m. in 105-107 Bernhard Center).
On what is probably a somewhat related note, my usual slot to address the Board of Trustees has been eliminated from their agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. However, I will be present and have signed up to speak during the public comments.
Please join me in standing with our dean.
#IStandWithAlex
#CASstrong
In solidarity,
Lisa
—
Lisa C. Minnick
President, WMU-AAUP
Associate Professor of English
and Gender & Women’s Studies
Western Michigan University
814 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008
(269) 345-0151
WMU-AAUP Blog 