May 7, 2008
Dear President Machen:
We, the undersigned graduate students of the French Section of Romance
Languages and
Literatures, wish also to voice our strong opposition to proposed cuts
that will lead to the
elimination of our venerable PhD program and threaten the employment of
one of it most valued
professors.
Dr. [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved]
is currently directing four PhD dissertations and a Masters thesis
while also serving
on other dissertation and thesis committees. If he indeed ends up
having to leave UF, it will
seriously affect the continuing academic progress of all those students
who are working to finish
their projects.
The current budget crisis cannot be worth the loss of such an essential
PhD program that
assures humanities scholarship on campus. In fact, the UF French
graduate students are shocked
and devastated by this administrative proposal. We are also profoundly
dismayed by the proposed
dismissal of Dr. [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved], who carries out his responsibilities as a
tenure-track faculty member by doing his job so very well.
Dr. [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved]
expertise covers [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved].
This background makes him an ideal teacher, adviser and scholar. He has
taught and developed
numerous courses that focus on cultural diversity, including truly
unique courses such as [Name and/or
area of specialization
removed to protect the privacy of the individual involved]. In
these classes, Dr. [Name and/or area
of specialization
removed to protect the privacy of the individual involved] has
helped us to explore a wide range of
interests including [Name and/or area
of specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved].
Dr. [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved] courses provide
an opportunity for UF students to develop new contacts and cultural
exchanges through scholarship. These kinds of innovative
classes open up new fields of interest and research for students. His
work has culminated in attracting imminent scholars and
writers to the UF campus such as the writer, former prime minister and
current ambassador of the Republic of the
Congo, Henri Lopes, and the award-winning novelist Alain Mabanckou
(winner of France’s National Book Award, Le Prix Renaudot).
These unilaterally proposed cuts of such historic programs as well as
the dismissal of an
esteemed, tenure-track; faculty member seems a dear price to pay and
sets a deceitful precedent that
treats humanities programs as unessential or optional, rather than as a
crucial component of any
institution claiming to promote the teaching of Liberal Arts.
The following graduate students have
authorized the inclusion of their names:
Christian Ahihou
Sharon Bayer
Georgie Breville
Lakhdar Choudar
Laila Fares
Kate Fredericks
Sophie Ganachaud
Stephanie Kupfer
Matthew Lawton
Matthew Loving
Anny Mavambu-Ndulu
Mustapha Sami
Audrey Viguier
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 8, 2008
Dear President Machen,
We, the undersigned graduate students of the Spanish Section
of Romance Languages and Literatures, would like to raise our voice in
opposition to the proposed cuts that will eliminate the French PhD
program as
well as the dismissal of Dr. [Name
and/or area of specialization removed to protect the privacy of the
individual involved], professor of French in the
Department
of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Center for African
Studies.
As graduate students in Spanish
in the Department of Romance
Languages and Literatures, we would regret the loss of the graduate
program in
French as well as the loss of the excellent Dr. [Name and/or area of specialization removed
to protect the privacy of the individual involved], who has
exceeded
his
expectation as a tenure-track professor and who is currently the mentor
for
four PhD students and one MA student. We
believe the University
of Florida has
made a
commitment to the students in the French program to provide them with a
graduate education whose quality will make them nationally and
internationally
competitive. The elimination of the French graduate program and the
termination
of professor [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved] will compromise this commitment.
With all due respect we request
that the decisions to
eliminate the French program and dismiss Dr. [Name and/or area of
specialization removed to protect the privacy of the individual
involved] be reconsidered.
Organización de
Estudiantes de Español (OEGE)
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
University
of Florida
170 Dauer Hall
The following graduate students have authorized the
inclusion of their names:
Laurel
Abreu
Juan
Pablo Rodríguez Prieto
Paola Arboleda
Belkis
Suárez F.
Moniqua Acosta-Heyman
Verónica
Tienza
Giada Biasetti
Alexander Torres
Alfonso Caminas-Muina
Vinodh
Venkatesh
Rosa María Castaneda
Grazyna
Walczak
Dorian Dorado
Ana
I. Zapata Calle
María Fionda
Erica Fischer
Herlinda Flores
Claudia Happel
Victor Jordan
Heather R. Kaiser
Stephanie Knouse
Lucia Montas
Erica Oshier
Giovanna Rivero
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Dr. Murphy,
I read with interest and disgust this morning in the
online version of the Gainesville Sun about the budget cuts at UF and
in particular the PhD program in French. While I am not currently
teaching French in the schools, I do use it to communicate with the
students of Haitian origin within our schools. I am VERY proud to
have both my B.A. and M.A. in French and have often thought of
returning for a PhD in the language I love 2nd best to my native
English. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help
maintain the program at UF. Feel free to forward this email to whomever
needs to see it to support the RLL department.
With Deepest Respect,
Shelly Soffer
M.A. 2001 Dept of Romance Languages
and Literatures
M.A. 2004 Dept of Communication
Sciences and Disorders
Rochelle Soffer
Speech-Language Pathologist
Autism Cluster
Norcrest Elementary School
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________